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| Open AccessRandom synaptic feedback weights support error backpropagation for deep learning
Multi-layered neural architectures that implement learning require elaborate mechanisms for symmetric backpropagation of errors that are biologically implausible. Here the authors propose a simple resolution to this problem of blame assignment that works even with feedback using random synaptic weights.
- Timothy P. Lillicrap
- , Daniel Cownden
- & Colin J. Akerman
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Article
| Open AccessSpontaneous emergence of fast attractor dynamics in a model of developing primary visual cortex
Sensory cortices represent stimuli through joint activity of competing neuronal assemblies. Here the authors show that a model of visual cortex with plastic feedforward and recurrent synapses, exposed to natural images, spontaneously develops attractor dynamics between groups of similarly tuned neurons.
- Thomas Miconi
- , Jeffrey L. McKinstry
- & Gerald M. Edelman
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| Open AccessSelf-motion evokes precise spike timing in the primate vestibular system
Early vestibular pathways are thought to code sensory inputs regarding self-motion via changes in firing rate. Here, the authors record from both regular and irregular afferents in macaques, and find both irregular afferents and central neurons also represent self-motion via temporally precise spike timing.
- Mohsen Jamali
- , Maurice J. Chacron
- & Kathleen E. Cullen
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| Open AccessReorganization between preparatory and movement population responses in motor cortex
Single neuron responses are highly complex and dynamic yet they are able to flexibly represent behaviour through their collective activity. Here the authors demonstrate that population activity patterns of motor cortex neurons are orthogonal during successive task epochs that are linked through a simple linear function.
- Gamaleldin F. Elsayed
- , Antonio H. Lara
- & John P. Cunningham
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| Open AccessInduced sensorimotor brain plasticity controls pain in phantom limb patients
Pain in a phantom limb after limb deafferentation may be due to maladaptive sensorimotor representation. Here the authors find that sensorimotor plasticity induced by BMI training with the phantom hand, contrary to expectation, increased pain while dissociating prosthetic movements from the phantom arm relieved the pain.
- Takufumi Yanagisawa
- , Ryohei Fukuma
- & Youichi Saitoh
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| Open AccessA dendritic disinhibitory circuit mechanism for pathway-specific gating
Cortical circuits receive simultaneous inputs from multiple pathways and are able to flexibly select the appropriate inputs for processing. Here the authors propose a network model in which dendritic branch-specific disinhibition established through synaptic plasticity achieves pathway-specific gating.
- Guangyu Robert Yang
- , John D. Murray
- & Xiao-Jing Wang
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Article
| Open AccessTemporal asymmetries in auditory coding and perception reflect multi-layered nonlinearities
In humans, sounds that increase in intensity over time (up-ramp) are perceived as louder than down-ramping sounds. Here the authors show that in mice this bias also exists and is reflected in the complex nonlinearities of auditory cortex activity.
- Thomas Deneux
- , Alexandre Kempf
- & Brice Bathellier
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| Open AccessNeural processes mediating contextual influences on human choice behaviour
The influence of context on value-based choice is well established but the neural correlates associated with this remain poorly understood. Here the authors perform fMRI in human subjects and find that the hippocampus and ventral tegmental area/substantia nigra are associated with the degree of influence of context on choice behaviour.
- Francesco Rigoli
- , Karl J. Friston
- & Raymond J. Dolan
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| Open AccessChunking as the result of an efficiency computation trade-off
Complex motions can be achieved by chunking together simple movements at the cost of producing smooth, efficient trajectories. Here the authors apply a new algorithm to monkeys learning complex motor sequences and show that optimization initially occurs within small chunks that are later combined.
- Pavan Ramkumar
- , Daniel E. Acuna
- & Konrad P. Kording
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Article
| Open AccessaMAP is a validated pipeline for registration and segmentation of high-resolution mouse brain data
Anatomical segmentation of high-resolution 3D microscopy datasets is necessary to map large samples at cellular resolution. Here the authors present a pipeline for automated mouse atlas propagation (aMAP) to segment fluorescence images of the adult mouse brain and validate it against human segmentations.
- Christian J. Niedworok
- , Alexander P. Y. Brown
- & Troy W. Margrie
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Article
| Open AccessThe child brain computes and utilizes internalized maternal choices
Mothers advocate eating healthy foods while children like to eat tasty foods. Lim and colleagues demonstrate that children incorporate their mothers' food choices while deciding what to eat as well as provide the neural correlates of this decision making process.
- Seung-Lark Lim
- , J. Bradley C. Cherry
- & Amanda S. Bruce
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| Open AccessComputations of uncertainty mediate acute stress responses in humans
Acute stress has broad physiological and behavioural consequences, yet the precise factors that generate stress responses are not known. Here, de Berker and colleagues demonstrate that acute stress responses dynamically track environmental uncertainty and predict ability to learn under uncertain threat.
- Archy O. de Berker
- , Robb B. Rutledge
- & Sven Bestmann
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| Open AccessLong-term neural and physiological phenotyping of a single human
Large-scale, multimodal phenotypic characterisation is a valuable tool to explore brain function. Poldrack et al. collect and relate MRI, psychological, physiological, metabolic and gene expression data from a single human over an 18 month period, providing a rich resource for future studies.
- Russell A. Poldrack
- , Timothy O. Laumann
- & Jeanette A. Mumford
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| Open AccessThe higher order auditory cortex is involved in the assignment of affective value to sensory stimuli
The auditory cortex Te2 represents a key node for the assignment of the affective value to sensory stimuli in rodents. Using pharmacogenetic manipulations, this study shows that in Te2 there are neurons which respond to the emotional valence of sounds and their inactivation impairs emotional memories retrieval.
- Anna Grosso
- , Marco Cambiaghi
- & Benedetto Sacchetti
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| Open AccessNeural dynamics of prediction and surprise in infants
Prior expectations shape neural processing in the brain and violations of these expectations can have a profound influence on learning. Here the authors demonstrate that such predictive coding mechanisms are already functional in the brains of 12-month-old infants.
- Sid Kouider
- , Bria Long
- & Sofie V. Gelskov
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| Open AccessCognitive tutoring induces widespread neuroplasticity and remediates brain function in children with mathematical learning disabilities
Mathematical learning disabilities (MLD) affect up to 20% of children and are linked to poorer socioeconomic and health outcomes in adulthood. Here, Iuculano et al. show that tutoring induced functional changes in multiple brain systems underlie remediation of poor maths skills in children with MLD.
- Teresa Iuculano
- , Miriam Rosenberg-Lee
- & Vinod Menon
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| Open AccessAn insula-frontostriatal network mediates flexible cognitive control by adaptively predicting changing control demands
The ability to continually adjust behavioural strategies is a hallmark of human cognition, yet the underlying mechanisms remain poorly understood. Here the authors show that an insula-frontostriatal network mediates such flexible cognitive control by adaptively predicting changing control demands.
- Jiefeng Jiang
- , Jeffrey Beck
- & Tobias Egner
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| Open AccessThe precision of value-based choices depends causally on fronto-parietal phase coupling
Recent studies suggest that value-based choices involve communication between parietal and prefrontal cortices. Here the authors use a novel, non-invasive cortical manipulation technique to demonstrate a causal role for such communication in mediating accurate value-based, but not perceptual, choices.
- Rafael Polanía
- , Marius Moisa
- & Christian C. Ruff
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Article
| Open AccessOptimal speed estimation in natural image movies predicts human performance
Accurate motion perception depends on accurate estimation of retinal motion speed. Here, from natural image movies, the authors derive the optimal computational rules for estimating speed, and show that these computations predict both human speed discrimination performance and the tuning of speed-selective neurons.
- Johannes Burge
- & Wilson S. Geisler
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Pop-out in visual search of moving targets in the archer fish
In mammals, rapid identification of visual targets is facilitated by differences between the target and the surrounding visual scene. Here the authors demonstrate behavioural and neural correlates of visual pop-out in archer fish, suggesting it is a fundamental component of all vertebrate visual systems.
- Mor Ben-Tov
- , Opher Donchin
- & Ronen Segev
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| Open AccessA number-form area in the blind
The human visual cortex includes areas with preference for various object categories. Here, Abboud et al. demonstrate using visual-to-music substitution, that the congenitally blind show a similar preference for numerals in the right inferior temporal cortex as sighted individuals, despite having no visual experience.
- Sami Abboud
- , Shachar Maidenbaum
- & Amir Amedi
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Dynamic encoding of face information in the human fusiform gyrus
The human fusiform face area (FFA) plays a major role in face recognition. Ghuman et al.study the temporal dynamics of face information processing in the FFA and establish the timecourse of information processing as well as the processing stages that FFA contributes to when a face is first viewed.
- Avniel Singh Ghuman
- , Nicolas M. Brunet
- & R. Mark Richardson
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| Open AccessOscillations emerging from noise-driven steady state in networks with electrical synapses and subthreshold resonance
Oscillatory activity is ubiquitous in the brain and plays a critical role in cognitive processing. Tchumatchenko and Clopath present a model whereby oscillatory activity emerges through subthreshold resonance and electrical coupling between inhibitory interneurons.
- Tatjana Tchumatchenko
- & Claudia Clopath
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| Open AccessAction-value comparisons in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex control choice between goal-directed actions
In humans, choice between actions depends on the ability to compare action–outcome values. Here, the authors show that action–outcome values are compared on the basis of the relative advantage of a particular action over alternative actions, which takes place in the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex of the brain.
- Richard W. Morris
- , Amir Dezfouli
- & Bernard W. Balleine
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| Open AccessVirtual finger boosts three-dimensional imaging and microsurgery as well as terabyte volume image visualization and analysis
Large three-dimensional images are commonly generated through biological experimentation. Here the authors report software tools for exploration of three-dimensional images along with applications to assist in imaging, microsurgery, visualization and annotation of large image data sets.
- Hanchuan Peng
- , Jianyong Tang
- & Fuhui Long
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Predictive codes of familiarity and context during the perceptual learning of facial identities
Predictive coding by neural circuits is implicated in visual perception and recognition. Apps and Tsakiris show that contextual familiarity is processed by the superior temporal sulcus and that prediction errors that update facial familiarity are processed by the fusiform face area.
- Matthew A. J. Apps
- & Manos Tsakiris
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Article
| Open AccessNumerical processing in the human parietal cortex during experimental and natural conditions
Human neuronal activity during cognitive processing is usually studied under experimental conditions but activity under natural conditions is poorly understood. Here the authors develop a method to accurately characterize the activity of the same neuronal population under both conditions.
- Mohammad Dastjerdi
- , Muge Ozker
- & Josef Parvizi
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Blurry topography for precise target-distance computations in the auditory cortex of echolocating bats
Topographic cortical representation of echo delay is instrumental for general orientation in bats. Hechavarría et al. show that topographic maps in the bat auditory cortex that are associated with minimal and optimal echo delays are less organized than maps associated with maximum echo delays.
- Julio C. Hechavarría
- , Silvio Macías
- & Manfred Kössl
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Pattern classification by memristive crossbar circuits using ex situ and in situ training
Experimental demonstration of memristor circuits in artificial neural networks is challenging. Here, pattern classification by a single-layer perceptron network is realised with a memristive crossbar circuit, and both in situ and ex situtraining are applied.
- Fabien Alibart
- , Elham Zamanidoost
- & Dmitri B. Strukov
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Article
| Open AccessLeg-tracking and automated behavioural classification in Drosophila
Detailed analysis of an animal’s posture and gait can provide a rich resource for behavioural studies. Kain et al. apply the technology of real-time motion capture to Drosophila, allowing automatic classification of the behaviours of flies spontaneously roaming on a tracker ball.
- Jamey Kain
- , Chris Stokes
- & Benjamin de Bivort
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Dimensionality of brain networks linked to life-long individual differences in self-control
The ability to delay gratification in childhood correlates with the ability to exert self-control in adulthood. Berman and colleagues re-examine individuals that were studied 40 years ago and find that the individuals who are able to exert a high level of self-control have more efficient neural networks.
- Marc G. Berman
- , Grigori Yourganov
- & John Jonides
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| Open AccessA pairwise maximum entropy model accurately describes resting-state human brain networks
During rest, the different regions of the human brain still carry out complex interactions. In this study, a pairwise maximum entropy model is used to quantify the complexity of these interactions during rest, showing that the model is able to capture the structure of the resting-state human brain networks.
- Takamitsu Watanabe
- , Satoshi Hirose
- & Naoki Masuda
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Structured neuronal encoding and decoding of human speech features
Speech is encoded by the firing patterns of speech-controlling neurons in different regions of the brain, which Tankus and colleagues analyse in this study. They find highly specific encoding of vowels in medial–frontal neurons and nonspecific tuning in superior temporal gyrus neurons.
- Ariel Tankus
- , Itzhak Fried
- & Shy Shoham
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| Open AccessReinforcement learning in professional basketball players
Reinforcement learning quantifies the change in behaviour in response to past experience. Using field goal attempt data from basketball, Neiman and Loewenstein demonstrate that even one failed or made attempt has an impact on subsequent attempts, showing that players overgeneralize from their most recent actions.
- Tal Neiman
- & Yonatan Loewenstein
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| Open AccessInformation processing using a single dynamical node as complex system
The paradigm of reservoir computing shows that, like the human brain, complex networks can perform efficient information processing. Here, a simple delay dynamical system is demonstrated that can efficiently perform computations capable of replacing a complex network in reservoir computing.
- L. Appeltant
- , M.C. Soriano
- & I. Fischer
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| Open AccessActive sampling and decision making in Drosophila chemotaxis
Drosophila melanogaster larvae demonstrate chemotaxis towards odours but their navigation mechanism is poorly understood. Using computer-vision tracking, Gomez-Marinet al.show that larvae ascend odour gradients using an active sampling strategy that is analogous to sniffing in vertebrates.
- Alex Gomez-Marin
- , Greg J. Stephens
- & Matthieu Louis
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| Open AccessNeural coding in a single sensory neuron controlling opposite seeking behaviours in Caenorhabditis elegans
The neuronal mechanisms responsible for thermal seeking behaviour inCaenorhabditis. elegansare not fully understood. In this study, the sensory neuron AFD is shown to be involved in the responses to both cold and warm temperatures by transmitting inhibitory and excitatory signals to the interneuron AIY.
- Atsushi Kuhara
- , Noriyuki Ohnishi
- & Ikue Mori