New brain complexity: changing responses (Introduction)

by David Turell , Thursday, September 04, 2014, 16:22 (3733 days ago) @ David Turell

This study shows that neurons can vary signals, and new neurons may enter the action:-http://medicalxpress.com/news/2014-09-scientists-reveal-complexity-brain-wiring.html-Note the result:-"Mattis and Brill used optogenetics to prompt neurons of the hippocampus to mimic either the slow firing characteristic of information acquisition or the rapid firing characteristic of consolidation. When they mimicked the slow firing they saw a quick reaction by cells in the septum. When they mimicked the fast consolidation firing, they saw a much slower response by completely different cells in the septum.
 
"Same set of wires - different outcome. That's like turning on different lights depending on how hard you flip the switch. "This illustrates how complex the brain is," Mattis said.
 
"Most scientific papers answer a question: What does this protein do? How does this part of the brain work? By contrast, this paper raised a whole new set of questions, Mattis said. They more or less understand the faster reaction, but what is causing the slower reaction? How widespread is this phenomenon in the brain?"