Rewiring of adult neural networks - learning from structural plasticity across multiple scales

@misc{fauth2026rewiring,
  title = {{Rewiring of adult neural networks - learning from structural plasticity across multiple scales}},
  author = {Michael Fauth and Han Lu and Jannik Luboeinski and Johanna Senk and Simone Albani and Valentina Armuzza and Paolo Carloni and Richmond L. Crisostomo and Hermann Cuntz and Ulrich Egert and Eugenio F. Fornasiero and Tobias Gemmeke and Claus C. Hilgetag and Sabine M. Hölter and Patrick Inoue and Björn Kampa and James C. Knight and Susanne Kunkel and Thomas Nowotny and Samora Okujeni and Nicola Palomero-Gallagher and Mariia Popova and Petra Ritter and Giulia Rossetti and Michael Schirner and Marc Spehr and Leon Stefanovski and Gaia Tavosanis and Agata Witkowska and Felix Wolf and Willem Wybo and Sandra Diaz-Pier and Maximilian Lenz and Abigail Morrison and Florian Röhrbein and Stefan Rotter and Johannes Schemmel and Christian Tetzlaff and Andreas Vlachos},
  howpublished = {arXiv},
  year = {2026},
  month = oct,
  doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2610.18024},
  eprint = {2610.18024},
  archivePrefix = {arXiv},
  url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.18024},
  note = {CC BY 4.0},
}

TY  - UNPB
TI  - Rewiring of adult neural networks - learning from structural plasticity across multiple scales
AU  - Michael Fauth
AU  - Han Lu
AU  - Jannik Luboeinski
AU  - Johanna Senk
AU  - Simone Albani
AU  - Valentina Armuzza
AU  - Paolo Carloni
AU  - Richmond L. Crisostomo
AU  - Hermann Cuntz
AU  - Ulrich Egert
AU  - Eugenio F. Fornasiero
AU  - Tobias Gemmeke
AU  - Claus C. Hilgetag
AU  - Sabine M. Hölter
AU  - Patrick Inoue
AU  - Björn Kampa
AU  - James C. Knight
AU  - Susanne Kunkel
AU  - Thomas Nowotny
AU  - Samora Okujeni
AU  - Nicola Palomero-Gallagher
AU  - Mariia Popova
AU  - Petra Ritter
AU  - Giulia Rossetti
AU  - Michael Schirner
AU  - Marc Spehr
AU  - Leon Stefanovski
AU  - Gaia Tavosanis
AU  - Agata Witkowska
AU  - Felix Wolf
AU  - Willem Wybo
AU  - Sandra Diaz-Pier
AU  - Maximilian Lenz
AU  - Abigail Morrison
AU  - Florian Röhrbein
AU  - Stefan Rotter
AU  - Johannes Schemmel
AU  - Christian Tetzlaff
AU  - Andreas Vlachos
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/10/13
PB  - arXiv
DO  - 10.48550/arxiv.2610.18024
UR  - https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.18024
AB  - Synaptic connections are continuously formed and eliminated even in adult neuronal networks. This process - called structural plasticity - allows networks to change their topology to learn and adapt to their environment or compensate for lesions. Yet, in contrast to synaptic plasticity, structural plasticity is less well studied and understood. We here present the current state of knowledge as well as open problems in the field along three guiding questions: (1) What regulates structural plasticity in biological neural networks? (2) What are the functional consequences and advantages of structural plasticity in adult neural networks? (3) How can our understanding of structural plasticity be translated into clinical and technological applications? We argue that understanding structural plasticity is a problem involving multiple temporal and spatial scales. Solving this problem thus requires collaborative efforts of experimentalists, theoreticians as well as computational modelers, and has the potential for comprehensive neuroscientific insights that can guide the development of medical applications, artificial neural networks as well as neuromorphic computing.
ER  -