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Spike synchronization underlies information processing and storage in the brain. But how can neurons synchronize in a noisy network? By exploiting a high-speed (500–2,000 fps) multineuron imaging technique and a large-scale synapse mapping method, we directly compared spontaneous activity patterns and anatomical connectivity in hippocampal CA3 networks ex vivo. As compared to unconnected pairs, synaptically coupled neurons shared more common presynaptic neurons, received more correlated excitatory synaptic inputs, and emitted synchronized spikes with approximately 10⁷ times higher probability. Importantly, common presynaptic parents per se synchronized more than unshared upstream neurons. Consistent with this, dynamic-clamp stimulation revealed that common inputs alone could not account for the realistic degree of synchronization unless presynaptic spikes synchronized among …