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bioRxiv · 10.64898/2026.03.10.710755

Controlling Integration and Segregation in Echo State Networks via Noradrenaline and Acetylcholine Neuromodulation

Nobukawa, S.·Shirama, A.·Sakemi, Y.·Watanabe, E.·Isokawa, T.·Nishimura, H.·Aihara, K.
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Abstract

Biological brain networks flexibly reconfigure functional connectivity between integration and segregation through neuromodulatory systems--noradrenaline (NA) and acetylcholine (ACh)--without altering structural connectivity. Inspired by this mechanism, we propose a modular echo state network (ESN) with context-dependent NA and ACh gain modulation, where NA promotes inter-module integration via response gain and ACh promotes intra-module segregation via multiplicative gain. We evaluate the model on two context-dependent tasks: a segregation/integration task and a context-dependent decision task. Across both tasks, the modulated model consistently outperformed the baseline, with task-appropriate modulation profiles emerging naturally from optimization and functional connectivity analysis confirming context-appropriate dynamic reorganization. These results demonstrate that neuromodulatory gain control enables adaptive, context-sensitive computation in structurally fixed reservoir networks.

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Nobukawa, S., Shirama, A., Sakemi, Y., Watanabe, E., Isokawa, T., Nishimura, H., Aihara, K.. 2026-03-13. Controlling Integration and Segregation in Echo State Networks via Noradrenaline and Acetylcholine Neuromodulation. https://doi.org/10.64898/2026.03.10.710755

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