2. The puzzle is that these neurons are in visual cortex, so they should only be talking about what the eyes tell them. But here they are in pitch black darkness, chatting continuously.
-
-
Prikaži ovu nit
-
3. This has been known for a long time, ever since the first recordings of single neurons in live brains.
Prikaži ovu nit -
4. Neuroscientists are divided. Some think the chattering is just noise. Others think the neurons are chatting about something very important, we just can’t understand their language.
Prikaži ovu nit -
5. Recording one neuron at a time, we have no chance to understand this language. It’s like hearing only half of a conversation: Neuron B: “You’re just paranoid.” Neuron B: “He started it.“ But really more like only a millionth of it: Neuron B: “t”
Prikaži ovu nit -
6. The number of recorded neurons has improved dramatically. We can now pick up whole conversations: Neuron A: I think I saw something. Neuron B: You’re just paranoid. Neuron C: Sh, I’m trying to sleep here. Neuron B: He started it. Neuron D: I think we’re going to be eaten.
Prikaži ovu nit -
7. We recorded about 10,000 neurons and sorted their activity using an algorithm so you can see next to each other groups of neurons that talk about the same things:pic.twitter.com/L1IJg1EDvK
Prikaži ovu nit -
8. This showed us there were many conversations going on at the same time. But we still didn’t know what the conversations were about.
Prikaži ovu nit -
-
10. But then it hit us. It was movements! The neurons were talking about movements!
Prikaži ovu nit -
11. The neurons were following in real time the motor actions of the mouse, each of them chatting about a different type of movement!
Prikaži ovu nit -
12. In mice, these motor actions are things like running, whisking, grooming and sniffing:pic.twitter.com/V2KgbgyhCi
Prikaži ovu nit -
13. We detected these motor actions from the videos using automated algorithms:pic.twitter.com/Nl5drsVWVb
Prikaži ovu nit -
14. And then used all this motor information to predict which neurons were chatting and when:pic.twitter.com/8hD9wypYBL
Prikaži ovu nit -
15. We predicted a lot, about 50% of the neural conversation. In fact, in every area of the brain we looked, we could predict about that much:pic.twitter.com/ttNmrv50nW
Prikaži ovu nit -
16. To conclude, neurons in mice, and probably in your brain, are always chatting about what you’re doing, even if these neurons normally respond to images or sounds or tickling.
Prikaži ovu nit -
17. Why are they having this conversation about motor actions? It’s a bit of a mystery. Our theory is that it helps the brain detect coincidences: when action X and stimulus Y happen at the same time.
Prikaži ovu nit -
18. Action X + stimulus Y could often lead to a consequence Z. Z can be a juicy reward, or a dangerous situation.
Prikaži ovu nit -
19. Luckily, there is a neuron in your brain somewhere who noticed the coincidence XY, so it can alert everyone about the possible consequence Z before it happens!
Prikaži ovu nit -
20. There are more esoteric interpretations, like the chattering being the mechanistic substrate of consciousness. We’ll leave this for others to ponder.
Prikaži ovu nit -
21. Here’s the paper if you want to dig in.https://www.biorxiv.org/content/early/2018/04/22/306019 …
Prikaži ovu nit -
22. We also shared the data, and the code to run the analyses. https://figshare.com/articles/Recordings_of_ten_thousand_neurons_in_visual_cortex_during_spontaneous_behaviors/6163622 …https://github.com/MouseLand/stringer-pachitariu-et-al-2018a …
Prikaži ovu nit -
Novi razgovor -
Čini se da učitavanje traje već neko vrijeme.
Twitter je možda preopterećen ili ima kratkotrajnih poteškoća u radu. Pokušajte ponovno ili potražite dodatne informacije u odjeljku Status Twittera.