Synchronization enhances synaptic efficacy through spike timing-dependent plasticity in the olfactory system

Synaptic modifications are measured in biological experiments with respect to spike timings. Spike timing-dependent plasticity is the latest development in refinements of Hebbian learning. We have applied additive and multiplicative STDP synaptic learning rules to a biologically inspired olfactory network. The olfactory system recognizes odorant patterns by synchronization of mitral cells. Synchronization enhances synaptic connections between mitral cells and cortical cells. Both STDP rules exhibit unimodal weight distributions which is biologically realistic. As a result, cortical cells respond with a wider range of variability and higher firing frequency. This property has potential for the improvement of artificial odor recognition through ongoing selection of mitral cells.