Multicellular Processing Units for Neural Networks: Model of Columns in the Cerebral Cortex

1990 ◽  
pp. 359-368
Author(s):  
Yves Burnod
1989 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
pp. 201-222 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adam N. Mamelak ◽  
J. Allan Hobson

Bizarreness is a cognitive feature common to REM sleep dreams, which can be easily measured. Because bizarreness is highly specific to dreaming, we propose that it is most likely brought about by changes in neuronal activity that are specific to REM sleep. At the level of the dream plot, bizarreness can be defined as either discontinuity or incongruity. In addition, the dreamer's thoughts about the plot may be logically deficient. We propose that dream bizarreness is the cognitive concomitant of two kinds of changes in neuronal dynamics during REM sleep. One is the disinhibition of forebrain networks caused by the withdrawal of the modulatory influences of norepinephrine (NE) and serotonin (5HT) in REM sleep, secondary to cessation of firing of locus coeruleus and dorsal raphe neurons. This aminergic demodulation can be mathematically modeled as a shift toward increased error at the outputs from neural networks, and these errors might be represented cognitively as incongruities and/or discontinuities. We also consider the possibility that discontinuities are the cognitive concomitant of sudden bifurcations or “jumps” in the responses of forebrain neuronal networks. These bifurcations are caused by phasic discharge of pontogeniculooccipital (PGO) neurons during REM sleep, providing a source of cholinergic modulation to the forebrain which could evoke unpredictable network responses. When phasic PGO activity stops, the resultant activity in the brain may be wholly unrelated to patterns of activity dominant before such phasic stimulation began. Mathematically such sudden shifts from one pattern of activity to a second, unrelated one is called a bifurcation. We propose that the neuronal bifurcations brought about by PGO activity might be represented cognitively as bizarre discontinuities of dream plot. We regard these proposals as preliminary attempts to model the relationship between dream cognition and REM sleep neurophysiology. This neurophysiological model of dream bizarreness may also prove useful in understanding the contributions of REM sleep to the developmental and experiential plasticity of the cerebral cortex.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jackson J. Cone ◽  
Morgan L. Bade ◽  
Nicolas Y. Masse ◽  
Elizabeth A. Page ◽  
David J. Freedman ◽  
...  

AbstractWhenever the retinal image changes some neurons in visual cortex increase their rate of firing, while others decrease their rate of firing. Linking specific sets of neuronal responses with perception and behavior is essential for understanding mechanisms of neural circuit computation. We trained mice to perform visual detection tasks and used optogenetic perturbations to increase or decrease neuronal spiking primary visual cortex (V1). Perceptual reports were always enhanced by increments in V1 spike counts and impaired by decrements, even when increments and decrements were delivered to the same neuronal populations. Moreover, detecting changes in cortical activity depended on spike count integration rather than instantaneous changes in spiking. Recurrent neural networks trained in the task similarly relied on increments in neuronal activity when activity was costly. This work clarifies neuronal decoding strategies employed by cerebral cortex to translate cortical spiking into percepts that can be used to guide behavior.


2022 ◽  
Vol 2155 (1) ◽  
pp. 012034
Author(s):  
I M Enyagina ◽  
A A Poyda ◽  
V A Orlov ◽  
S O Kozlov ◽  
A N Polyakov ◽  
...  

Abstract Nuclear functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) is one of the most popular methods for studying the functional activity of the human brain. In particular, this method is used in medicine to obtain information about the state of the functional networks of the patient’s brain. However, the process of processing and analysis of experimental fMRI data is complex and requires the selection of the correct technique, depending on the specific task. Practice has shown that different processing methods can give slightly different results for the same set of fMRI data. There are a number of alternative specialized software packages for processing and analysis, but the methodology still needs improvement and development. We are working in this direction: we analyze the effectiveness of existing methods; we develop our own methods; we create software services for processing and analysis of fMRI data on the basis of the distributed modular platform “Digital Laboratory”, with the involvement of the supercomputer NRC “Kurchatov Institute”. For research we use experimental fMRI data obtained on the scanner Siemens Verio Magnetom 3T at the Kurchatov Institute. One of our tasks within the framework of this project is to improve the technology for studying large-scale functional areas of the cerebral cortex at rest. To build a hierarchical model of interaction of large-scale neural networks, a verified binding of functional areas to anatomy is required. Today, there are a number of generally accepted atlases of the functional areas of the human cerebral cortex, which, nevertheless, are constantly being finalized and refined. This article presents the results of our study of the Glasser atlas for the consistency of voxels within one region and the connectivity metrics of voxel dynamics.


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