Redundant modular networks promote good brain communication

Remember your phone number or the directions you just mentioned. In this way, your brain will actively communicate in many areas. It is believed that working memory depends on the interactions between these regions, but how these regions of the brain interact and correctly represent memory remains a mystery.

At Baylor College of Medicine, Dr. Nuo Lee, assistant professor of neuroscience and researcher McNair, and his colleagues Brain region Involved in working memory, we found evidence that modular network tissues are important for persistent neural activity.

How regions of the brain communicate

Li and his colleagues were able to see that each hemisphere of the brain had a distinct expression of memory. However, the hemisphere is tightly tuned from moment to moment, so you get very consistent information across the hemisphere in your working memory.

In their study, the researchers were to involve the mice in simple behaviors and store specific information. They were trained to delay the requested behavior for a few seconds. Time dilation gave researchers the opportunity to see Brain activity During the memory process.

“We have seen many neurons collaborating and pulling from both hemispheres of the cortex at the same time. When activity increased in one region, the other region continued closely. The interactions between the hemispheres of the brain, I assumed that was the cause of this memory, ”Li said.

Li and his colleagues recorded the activity in each hemisphere and showed that each made their own copy of the information during the memorization process. So how do the two hemispheres communicate?

Li explained that optogenetics can be used to disrupt information in a single hemisphere, affecting thousands of neurons in the meantime. Memory Limit. What they found was unexpected.

“When we confused the one hemisphereOther regions have disabled communications, essentially preventing corruption from spreading and affecting business in other regions, ”Lee said. Not only are they connected to allow electricity to flow, but they also monitor outages and cut connections as necessary to prevent the entire power grid from failing. “

Byungwoo Kang, a Stanford University student in collaboration with Dr Shaul Druckmann and his doctorate, developed a theoretical analysis and network simulation of this process, and this modular tissue in the brain is important for the robustness of sustained neuronal activity. I have shown that there are. This robustness may be involved in the brain’s ability to tolerate certain injuries and to protect cognitive function from distractions.

“Understanding the redundant modular tissue of the brain is brainNatural information processing. ”