Neurons that remain active even after the triggering stimulus has been silenced form the basis of short-term memory. The brain uses rhythmically active neurons to combine larger groups of neurons into functional units. Until now, neuroscientists have, for the most part, studied these and other properties with the help of network models, each of which is only able to recreate a single property. Scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Brain Research in Frankfurt have now shown how the new model can be used to investigate multiple properties in parallel. According to their calculations, all the properties share a common basis: ion channels in the cell membrane that control how strongly neurons are electrically stimulated. The emergence of these properties does not require synaptic plasticity – a finding that helps explain, for example, why some psychoactive drugs can have far-reaching side effects.