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#brainideascountdown

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Nicole Rust<p>Picking up on some of the BIG IDEAS in brain research, which was wonderfully chaotic when we last discussed in December under the hashtag <a href="https://neuromatch.social/tags/BrainIdeasCountdown" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>BrainIdeasCountdown</span></a>, e.g. <a href="https://neuromatch.social/@NicoleCRust/109557289393362842" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">neuromatch.social/@NicoleCRust</span><span class="invisible">/109557289393362842</span></a></p><p>Here's an attempt to fill in some blanks, and let's flip the hashtag: <a href="https://neuromatch.social/tags/BigBrainIdeas" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>BigBrainIdeas</span></a>. I'll focus on the notion that there are facts, ideas and then there are "Big Ideas" and I'll focus on the last one. Please join in!</p><p>I'd argue that one of the most influential Big Ideas about the brain in the latter half of the 20th century is the is the notion that:</p><blockquote><p>The neocortex of the brain is made up of a generic functional element that is repeated again and again and from this repetition, all of cortical function emerges</p></blockquote><p>I'm talking about the cortical column, first described by Vernon Mountcastle in 1957. The unit contains ~10K neurons and humans have ~25 million of them. The rapid evolution of humans is proposed to have followed from a rapid expansion of cortex that happened because of this repetitive crystalline structure. The gist behind the "functional" bit is that each unit always does the same generic computation, and the different functions of different brain areas result from the different inputs that these units receive. <span class="h-card"><a href="https://hachyderm.io/@TrackingActions" class="u-url mention" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">@<span>TrackingActions</span></a></span> very nicely summarizes the ideas here: <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41583-022-00658-6" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://www.</span><span class="ellipsis">nature.com/articles/s41583-022</span><span class="invisible">-00658-6</span></a></p><p>So what does this generic functional unit do? Proposals vary. One idea, also reflected in deep convolutional neural networks, is that it does two(ish) things: selectivity and invariance, stacked repetitively to support things like recognizing objects. Other proposals suggest that the brain is a prediction machine and each unit contributes a little bit to those predictions in a manner that relies not just on feedforward connectivity, but also feedback. Some proposals suggest that the function of the unit varies along a gradient as a consequence of biophysical properties like receptor expression: <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41583-020-0262-x" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://www.</span><span class="ellipsis">nature.com/articles/s41583-020</span><span class="invisible">-0262-x</span></a>.</p><p>Among brain researchers, this Big Idea is polarizing - obvious to some and misguided to others. Where are you in terms of your 'buy in' with this big idea?</p><p><a href="https://neuromatch.social/tags/neuroscience" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>neuroscience</span></a> <a href="https://neuromatch.social/tags/psychology" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>psychology</span></a> <a href="https://neuromatch.social/tags/neuroAI" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>neuroAI</span></a> <a href="https://neuromatch.social/tags/cognition" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>cognition</span></a> <span class="h-card"><a href="https://a.gup.pe/u/cogneurophys" class="u-url mention" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">@<span>cogneurophys</span></a></span> <a href="https://neuromatch.social/tags/BigBrainIdeas" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>BigBrainIdeas</span></a></p>
Nicole Rust<p>Crowdsourcing your ideas for the <a href="https://neuromatch.social/tags/BrainIdeasCountdown" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>BrainIdeasCountdown</span></a>:</p><p>Before we all turn into Winter Holiday pumpkins: What are some most interesting ideas in brain research that I haven't highlighted yet? I've sketched out my own ideas for these last 2/10 days (promise!). But brain research is working on so much &amp; I'm curious to hear your thoughts about what exactly that is. Here's my (random) list:</p><p>Idea10: Our moods depend on what's happening in our gut.</p><p>Idea 9: Across individuals, the same brain functions are implemented by biological details that vary a lot. </p><p>Idea 8: Consciousness level can be measured by measures of brain activity complexity.</p><p>Idea 7: Stimulation of the brain at multiple nodes may dance it from dysfunction back to normal function.</p><p>Idea 6: Gene therapy may circumvent the need to understand how mutated proteins lead to brain dysfunction.</p><p>Idea 5: Neurons in the brain influence one another through the electric fields that they generate, ephaptic coupling.</p><p>Idea 4: Our health and well-being is determined not just by our genes, but also the genes of those around us, "social genetic effects."</p><p>Idea 3: We rely on our memories of the past to predict the future.</p><p>Ideas 1&amp;2: Coming soon!</p><p>For details, click here: <a href="https://neuromatch.social/tags/BrainIdeasCountdown" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>BrainIdeasCountdown</span></a> </p><p>So: What haven't I highlighted yet?</p>
Nicole Rust<p>On the tock of the ticktock for the brain Ideas Countdown, Day 6 (of 10): Modern &amp; fascinating ideas about the brain for us all to discuss. How likely is each idea to be true? And if true, what are the implications?</p><p>Brain idea 5: Ephaptic coupling.</p><p>Everyone agrees that neurons in the brain communicate by chemical neurotransmission at the synapse plus electrical propagation within neurons. A more contentious idea is that neurons in the brain also influence one another through the electric fields that they generate, called ephaptic coupling. Here, the debate is not whether this could in principle happen (or even whether it does happen), but how extensively it influences brain activity. Some modern theories about the brain involve the wide range synchronization of brain activity, and this could be one way that the brain achieves it.</p><p>The friendly version:<br><a href="https://brain.harvard.edu/hbi_news/spooky-action-potentials-at-a-distance-ephaptic-coupling/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">brain.harvard.edu/hbi_news/spo</span><span class="invisible">oky-action-potentials-at-a-distance-ephaptic-coupling/</span></a></p><p>The deeper dive:<br><a href="https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Costas-Anastassiou/publication/266264218_Ephaptic_coupling_to_endogenous_electric_field_activity_Why_bother/links/5a0351260f7e9beb176f2238/Ephaptic-coupling-to-endogenous-electric-field-activity-Why-bother.pdf" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://www.</span><span class="ellipsis">researchgate.net/profile/Costa</span><span class="invisible">s-Anastassiou/publication/266264218_Ephaptic_coupling_to_endogenous_electric_field_activity_Why_bother/links/5a0351260f7e9beb176f2238/Ephaptic-coupling-to-endogenous-electric-field-activity-Why-bother.pdf</span></a></p><p><a href="https://neuromatch.social/tags/neuroscience" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>neuroscience</span></a> <br><a href="https://neuromatch.social/tags/BrainIdeasCountdown" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>BrainIdeasCountdown</span></a></p>
Nicole Rust<p>Continuing the countdown, Day 3 (of 10). Topic: Modern and fascinating ideas about the brain for us all to discuss. How likely is each idea to be true? And if true, what are the implications?</p><p>Brain idea 8: Of all the brain's functions, consciousness is one of the trickiest to study. In part, because we don't even know how to define what it is. Progress is happening around measuring levels of consciousness by combining complexity-based measures of EEG recorded brain activity (derived from physics), following noninvasive brain stimulation (TMS). These consciousness meters predict not only changes in consciousness level when we are awake versus asleep, but also which coma patients are 'locked in'. They also suggest that certain substances enhance consciousness.</p><p>The friendly version:<br><a href="https://www.technologyreview.com/2021/08/25/1031776/the-hunt-for-hidden-signs-of-consciousness-in-unreachable-patients/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://www.</span><span class="ellipsis">technologyreview.com/2021/08/2</span><span class="invisible">5/1031776/the-hunt-for-hidden-signs-of-consciousness-in-unreachable-patients/</span></a></p><p>The deeper dive:<br><a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/ejn.15800" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10</span><span class="invisible">.1111/ejn.15800</span></a></p><p><a href="https://neuromatch.social/tags/neuroscience" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>neuroscience</span></a> <br><a href="https://neuromatch.social/tags/BrainIdeasCountdown" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>BrainIdeasCountdown</span></a></p>
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