On higher order computations and synaptic meta-plasticity in the human brain: IT point of view (June, 2016)
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Glia modify neuronal connectivity by creating structural changes in the neuronal connectome. Glia also influence the functional connectome by modifying the flow of information through neural networks (Fields et al. 2015). There are strong experimental evidences that glia are responsible for synaptic meta-plasticity. Synaptic plasticity is the modification of the strength of connections between neurons. Meta-plasticity, i.e. plasticity of synaptic plasticity, may be viewed as mechanisms for dynamic reconfiguration of neuron circuits. First order computations in the brain are done by static neuron circuits, whereas higher order computations are done by dynamic reconfigurations of the links (synapses) between the neuron circuits. Static neuron circuits correspond to first order computable functions. Synapse creation correspond to the mathematical notion of function composition. Functionals are higher order functions that take functions as their arguments. The construction of functionals is based on dynamic reconfigurations of the function composition. Perhaps the functionals correspond to the meta-plasticity in the human brain.
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