The power of a single neuron
Steven Ericsson-Zenith
Thursday, 20 December 2007 03:13 UTC
Here’s an interesting example for interpretation. Firstly, consider the evidence for the title claim and secondly, if true, consider the implications. Also consider the generally accepted notion of neural “encoding” and exactly what that means (or not) in this context.
Actually, if someone thinks they know exactly what a neural “encoding” is, sparse or otherwise, or what particular uses of the term mean, then I will be happy to challenge them.
Clearly there is an amplification involved, but how is this mechanism different than, for example, receptor conformance spread in bacteria?
Updated 20 December 2007 03:21 UTC
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Replies
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Dear Steven,
so what would be a better term for “encoding” in your opinion?
Firstly I think that the two papers represent a quite advance in the field considering the overall techniqual difficulty to access the brain in an awake behaving preperation. Secondly, this is really just the beginning of studies in this respect. Compared to the research in recent years these studies established a quite different approach to neural activity and its linkage to behaviour. I would like to discuss with you on the topic but therefore you have to be a little more specific in the terms you would like to discuss about.Kind regards,
Mike -
I think “encoding” is a wonderful term but I have no idea how it is really being used. If I understood that then perhaps I could suggest an alternative.
Of course, I assume that papers that use the term are referring to the map between brain behavior and some macro behavior; that the evidence implies that for a given electrical pattern of behavior in the brain there is a correlated action by the organism that can be predicted.
However, Matt Wilson’s work at MIT can apparently predict the patterns in “place neurons” that correspond to the thoughts of an animal (reflection and forward thinking). This is a different type of “encoding” since it correlates not to immediate behavior but to the sense of a location. Particular neurons are active at particular locations, that much is clear.
In both cases we do not know where in the chain of functional dependence these observations rest and so we do not know exactly what is “encoded” nor do we know the other scenarios in which the neurons are active because the testing is necessary quite limited.
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