Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Noah Zarr, Joshua W. Brown
Summary: Despite advances in machine learning and neuroscience, the mechanisms behind problem-solving in the human brain remain unclear. This study applies engineering control theory to explore this question, presenting a neural model that can find solutions to various problems through localist learning. By combining computational neural modeling, human fMRI, and representational similarity analysis, the roles of several brain regions are reinterpreted as interacting mechanisms of a control theoretic system, offering new insights and potential for artificial general intelligence.
SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
(2023)
Article
Neurosciences
Andrew M. Wikenheiser, Matthew P. H. Gardner, Lauren E. Mueller, Geoffrey Schoenbaum
Summary: Research indicates that OFC neurons exhibit spatial firing fields in a manner similar to hippocampus when engaged in a free-foraging task, with different representations observed between flavored and unflavored conditions resembling hippocampal remapping.
JOURNAL OF NEUROSCIENCE
(2021)
Article
Neurosciences
Karly M. Turner, Anna Svegborn, Mia Langguth, Colin McKenzie, Trevor W. Robbins
Summary: This study reveals a functional opposition between the dorsomedial and dorsolateral striatum during skill and habit formation. Loss of function in the dorsomedial striatum accelerates sequence acquisition, while loss of function in the dorsolateral striatum impedes it. The mPFC is not involved, but the lateral orbitofrontal cortex plays a critical role.
JOURNAL OF NEUROSCIENCE
(2022)
Article
Neurosciences
Andrew Sheriff, Guinevere Pandolfi, Vivian S. Nguyen, Leslie M. Kay
Summary: The study reveals widespread interactions among nasal respiration, olfactory bulb, piriform cortex, and hippocampus in awake freely moving rats, supporting the piriform cortex as an integrator of respiratory and theta activity.
JOURNAL OF NEUROSCIENCE
(2021)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Evan E. Hart, Matthew P. H. Gardner, Marios C. Panayi, Thorsten Kahnt, Geoffrey Schoenbaum
Summary: Recording both single-unit activity and calcium signals in the lateral orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) of rats during olfactory discrimination learning, we found that the calcium signal only provided a degraded estimate of the information available in the single-unit spiking, primarily reflecting reward value.
Article
Neurosciences
Kei M. Igarashi, Jason Y. Lee, Heechul Jun
Summary: Learning leads to the formation of neuronal representations of acquired knowledge, traditionally referred to as cognitive maps in the hippocampus. Recent research has expanded this framework to include non-spatial memory and discovered similar knowledge representations in the entorhinal cortex and frontal cortex.
CURRENT OPINION IN NEUROBIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Neurosciences
Qiliang He, Jon Starnes, Thackery Brown
Summary: This study used multi-voxel pattern analysis combined with human fMRI to investigate the influence of environmental overlap on goal-oriented representations in the hippocampus. The results showed that environmental overlap leads to a decline in goal-oriented decoding in the hippocampus, and this decline is related to the strength of alternative memories. Furthermore, the frontopolar cortex is also involved in representing goal-states.
Article
Geriatrics & Gerontology
Martina Laczo, Lukas Martinkovic, Ondrej Lerch, Jan M. Wiener, Jana Kalinova, Veronika Matuskova, Zuzana Nedelska, Martin Vyhnalek, Jakub Hort, Jan Laczo
Summary: This study assessed spatial navigation performance in AD aMCI and non-AD aMCI patients, and examined the associations between navigation performance and MRI measures of brain atrophy as well as CSF biomarkers related to AD pathology.
FRONTIERS IN AGING NEUROSCIENCE
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Seng Bum Michael Yoo, Jiaxin Cindy Tu, Benjamin Yost Hayden
Summary: Successful pursuit and evasion rely on the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex for coordinating navigation and motor control by continuously updating a multicentric representation of the task state.
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
(2021)
Article
Neurosciences
Vishwa Goudar, Barbara Peysakhovich, David J. Freedman, Elizabeth A. Buffalo, Xiao-Jing Wang
Summary: Learning-to-learn refers to the progressive acceleration of solving a series of problems with shared structure. This study demonstrates that in recurrent neural networks, learning-to-learn emerges through the reuse and refinement of a neural state subspace underlying schema formation. It is a core process of knowledge acquisition, attracting attention in both neuroscience and artificial intelligence. The study trained a recurrent neural network model on arbitrary sensorimotor mappings dependent on the prefrontal cortex, showing an exponential time course of accelerated learning. The emergence and reuse of a schema within a low-dimensional population activity subspace facilitate learning by restricting connection weight changes.
NATURE NEUROSCIENCE
(2023)
Article
Biology
Erin B. Lind, Brian M. Sweis, Anders J. Asp, Manuel Esguerra, Keelia A. Silvis, A. David Redish, Mark J. Thomas
Summary: An optogenetic spatial self-stimulation task in mice reveals how different excitatory inputs to the nucleus accumbens shell integrate information and drive behavioral responses during reinforcement learning. Each input provides distinct information, reflecting reinforcement of different credit assignment functions, and contributes to driving situationally appropriate behavioral responses.
COMMUNICATIONS BIOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Neurosciences
Michael Moutoussis, Benjamin Garzon, Sharon Neufeld, Dominik R. Bach, Francesco Rigoli, Ian Goodyer, Edward Bullmore, Marc Guitart-Masip, Raymond J. Dolan
Summary: A common factor called decision acuity, distinct from IQ, has been identified as reflecting a generic decision-making ability. This factor is decreased in individuals with aberrant thinking and low social functioning. Decision acuity and IQ show dissociable brain signatures, with stable neural network relationships over time, and may be crucial for understanding mental health, particularly in relation to social dysfunction and abnormal thought patterns.
Article
Neurosciences
Seongmin A. Park, Douglas S. Miller, Erie D. Boorman
Summary: The study found that the human brain uses grid-like representations to infer direct trajectories between entities in a reconstructed abstract space during discrete decisions. These results suggest that grid-like representations are used for inferring novel solutions, even in abstract and discrete problems, indicating a general mechanism supporting flexible decision-making and generalization.
NATURE NEUROSCIENCE
(2021)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Linda Q. Yu, Jason Dana, Joseph W. Kable
Summary: The ventromedial frontal lobes (VMR) are crucial for encoding value. Individuals with VMF damage exhibit less stable but fundamentally transitive preferences, suggesting that valuation is not solely dependent on the VMF. This study shows that VMF is necessary for having strong and reliable preferences, but not for being a rational decision maker.
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
(2022)
Article
Neurosciences
P. Abad-Perez, F. J. Molina-Paya, L. Martinez-Otero, V. Borrell, R. L. Redondo, J. R. Brotons-Mas
Summary: We investigated the role of NMDAr function in pathological oscillations and behavior in schizophrenia. Our results show that NMDAr blockade disrupted the correlation between oscillations and speed of movement, crucial for internal representations of distance. Moreover, NMDAr function might explain several cognitive symptoms of schizophrenia and be crucial to hippocampal-prefrontal cortex interaction.