Seminar · Neuroscience
Rapid State Changes Account for Apparent Brain and Behavior Variability
David McCormick · University of Oregon
Thu, Sep 17, 2020 · 13:00 UTC
Neural and behavioral responses to sensory stimuli are notoriously variable from trial to trial. Does this mean the brain is inherently noisy or that we don’t completely understand the nature of the brain and behavior? Here we monitor the state of activity of the animal through videography of the face, including pupil and whisker movements, as well as walking, while also monitoring the ability of the animal to perform a difficult auditory or visual task. We find that the state of the animal is continuously changing and is never stable. The animal is constantly becoming more or less activat