Fig. 7: Simulating Hebbian and heterosynaptic interactions in a single neuron model.

a. Schematic of the model. Before and after plasticity, somatic responses to 8 directions are measured for the three viewing conditions (binoc, contra, and ipsi eye). During the plasticity period, synaptic inputs are driven only to binoc viewing and the synaptic strength of each spine changes based on Hebbian and heterosynaptic plasticity rules defined in the model. b Example trial simulating functional and structural dynamics of spines before, during, and after the plasticity induction period. (top) Before plasticity, visual inputs are distributed based on the empirical eye-specific proportions found at D1 and randomly assigned a preferred direction (pie chart and color wheel on left). The soma with its two branches is shown for three timepoints (before, during and after plasticity, from left to right). For each timepoint, the colors in the left and right schematic represent the eye and the direction (dir) preferences of the spines, respectively. (bottom) Polar plot depicting the binoc, ipsi, and contra orientation preference of the soma (denoted by the arrow) at the three timepoints.