A team of scientists from the UK and Australia have discovered that single neurons can store electrical patterns, similar to memories. This represents a breakthrough towards solving how neural systems are able to process and store information.
By comparing predictions from mathematical modeling to lab-based experiments with mammalian neurons, they were able to determine how different parameters, such as how long it takes for neuronal signals to be processed and how sensitive a cell is to external signals, affect how neural systems encode information.
The research team found that a single neuron is able to select between different patterns, dependent on the properties of each individual stimulus, for example slight differences in stimulation timing resulted in the emergence of no electrical activity spikes, single spikes per delay or two spikes per delay,
By opening up new avenues into research on the encoding of information in the brain and how this relates to memory formation, the study could also allow new insights into the causes and treatments of mental health conditions such as dementia.
“This work highlights how mathematical analysis and wet-lab experiments can be closely integrated to shed new light on fundamental problems in neuroscience,” said Dr Wedgwood. “That the theoretical predictions were so readily confirmed in experiments gives us great confidence in the mathematical approach as a tool for understanding how individual cells store patterns of activity. In the long run, we hope that this is the first step to a better understanding of memory formation in neural networks.”
Professor Krauskopf from the University of Auckland remarked, “The research shows that a living neuron coupled to itself is able to sustain different patterns in response to a stimulus. This is an exciting first step towards understanding how groups of neurons are able to respond to external stimuli in a precise temporal manner.”
“Communication between neurons occurs over large distances. The communication delay associated with this plays an important role in shaping the overall response of a network. This insight is crucial to how neural systems encode memories, which is one of the most fundamental questions in neuroscience,” added Professor Tsaneva from the University of Exeter’s Living Systems Institute.
Source: Medical Xpress
Journal information: Kyle C. A. Wedgwood et al, Robust spike timing in an excitable cell with delayed feedback, Journal of The Royal Society Interface (2021). dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsif.2021.0029
