Summary: Finally in chapter 5, I focus on the types of global structures that arise from STDP in a recurrent network. By analyzing pairwise interactions of neurons through STDP and also numerical simulations of a large network, I show that conventional pair-based STDP functions as a loop-eliminating mechanism in a network of spiking neurons and organizes neurons into in- and out-hubs. Loop-elimination increases when depression dominates and decreases when potentiation dominates. STDP with dominant depression implements a buffering mechanism for network firing rates, and shifted STDP can generate recurrent connections in a network, and also functions as a homeostatic mechanism that maintains a roughly constant average value of the synaptic strengths. In conclusion, studying pairwise interactions of neurons through STDP provides a number of important insights about the structures that arise from this plasticity rule in large networks. This approach can be extended to networks with more complex STDP models and more structured external input.