Exploring the interplay of intrinsic and synaptic plasticity

While synaptic learning mechanisms have always been a core topic of neural computation research, there has been relatively little work on intrinsic learning processes, which change a neuron's excitability. I will present models of intrinsic plasticity that are based on information theoretic principles, and I will discuss the potential synergistic relation between such intrinsic plasticity mechanisms and Hebbian plasticity at a neuron's synapses. I will show how individual neurons and networks of neurons can utilize these ideas for learning sensory representations.