Elementary Dynamics of Neural Microcircuits

Threshold-linear E–I microcircuits show qualitatively new dynamics under population silencing, including multistability, oscillations, and paradoxical responses that linear theories cannot capture.

• Why it matters: Connectivity-dependent nonlinear effects during optogenetic-like silencing are not explained by linear models, leaving conflicting circuit predictions unresolved across brain areas.
• What they did: The authors analyze threshold-linear networks to derive closed-form connectivity conditions governing multistability, oscillations, and paradoxical responses, including E-to-I versus I-to-E control, two gamma mechanisms, and cross-inhibition effects in hippocampal E–I–I circuits.
• The result: The derived rules reproduce optogenetic silencing outcomes in a canonical neocortical circuit, classify gamma transitions as gradual, abrupt, or non-oscillatory in hippocampal E–I–I networks, and predict when balanced or lateral inhibition yields competition or winner-take-all dynamics.

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