Microcircuit synchronization and heavy tailed synaptic weight distribution in preBötzinger Complex contribute to generation of breathing rhythm

The preBötzinger Complex, the mammalian inspiratory rhythm generator, encodes inspiratory time as motor pattern. Spike synchronization throughout this sparsely connected network generates inspiratory bursts albeit with variable latencies after preinspiratory activity onset in each breathing cycle. Using preBötC rhythmogenic microcircuit minimal models, we examined the variability in probability and latency to burst, mimicking experiments. Among various physiologically plausible graphs of 1000 point neurons with experimentally determined neuronal and synaptic parameters, directed Erdős-Rényi graphs best captured the experimentally observed dynamics. Mechanistically, preBötC (de)synchronization and oscillatory dynamics are regulated by the efferent connectivity of spiking neurons that gates the amplification of modest preinspiratory activity through input convergence. Furthermore, to replicate experiments, a lognormal distribution of synaptic weights was necessary to augment the efficacy of convergent coincident inputs. These mechanisms enable exceptionally robust yet flexible preBötC attractor dynamics that, we postulate, represent universal temporal-processing and decision-making computational motifs throughout the brain.