Neurons Fire in Sequence to Represent Tasks (IMAGE)
Caption
Researchers at Princeton found that brain cells known to be involved in making maps of the external environment, collectively known as the brain's "GPS," are also active in representing other tasks involved in memory and cognition. The researchers found that the neurons fired in sequence in accordance with the rats' activities as they listened to sounds and pressed levers to get rewards when the tone achieved a predetermined frequency. Below, the left diagram shows the neural activity (orange) in a group of neurons over a period of several seconds as the rats pressed and released the levers in response to the sounds they heard. The diagram on the right shows that individual cells (labeled 1 through 9) fire in sequence to represent the press and release of the lever.
Credit
Image courtesy of David Tank, Princeton University
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Image courtesy of David Tank, Princeton University
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