Computational models of learning and synaptic plasticity

Abstract: Many mathematical models of synaptic plasticity have been proposed to explain the diversity of plasticity phenomena observed in biological organisms. These models range from simple interpretations of Hebb's postulate, which suggests that correlated neural activity leads to increases in synaptic strength, to more complex rules that allow bidirectional synaptic updates, ensure stability, or incorporate additional signals like reward or error. At the same time, a range of learning paradigms can be observed behaviorally, from Pavlovian conditioning to motor learning and memory recall. Although it is difficult to directly link synaptic updates to learning outcomes experimentally, computational models provide a valuable tool for building evidence of this connection. In this chapter, we discuss several fundamental learning paradigms, along with the synaptic plasticity rules that might be used to implement them.