Topic: inhibitory populations

Neuronal sensitivity and selectivity to our environment arise from the transformation of external inputs by the cortical circuitry. We dissect the circuitry for this emergence using a combination of large-scale simultaneous measurements from single cells in awake animals and computational models. In area MT, an area of the neocortex that processes visual motion, even weak motion signals evoke selective responses in the presence of noise. We also observe tuned patterns of activity in the absence of visual motion that suggest feature-selective amplification within the circuit. In addition, respo

Aggression can be a fundamental social behavior in many species and is importantly modulated by prior aggressive experience. However, how this experience shapes neural activity and whether it predicts behaviors in novel, more challenging aggression contexts are unknown. Moreover, imitation learning theories of aggression suggest that this behavior can be transferred through observation alone1, but whether this learning leverages the same neural mechanisms as experience is unclear. To address these two questions, here we combine novel behavioral mapping strategies with cell-type-specific and mu

The connectivity network in the brain forms the basis for its functionality. Past studies have focused on the use of random (Erdos-Renyi, ER) networks or simple distant-dependent connectivity rules to model biological neural networks (BNNs). However, experimental data shows that specific network motifs are either significantly overrepresented or underrepresented in BNNs as compared to random networks. The functional significance of such non-random motifs in BNNs is poorly understood. Here, we specifically ask the question of how the presence of 3-neuron motifs in the excitatory and inhibitory