Investigating synchrony in living neural networks through functional network characteristics

The adaptability of the brain and neural networks is an advantageous feature that is still not fully understood. One great example of this is the ability of primary rat neural cells to reconstitute a network in vitro after dissociation. These cells are still able to act cooperatively in these reformed networks, where information is stored in groups of cells. One notable manifestation of this cooperation is synchronized bursts of electrical firing, and by proxy, calcium signals. We capture the calcium dynamics of hundreds of neurons in one field of view in order to understand the phenotype of each network. We then investigate the properties of the functional networks through measures such as global clustering in order to understand the differences between networks that display global synchrony and those that do not. Here we present preliminary results of this analysis. Understanding the key factors that lead to global synchrony may be important for future applications and efforts in biocomputing and control of network synchrony.