Research on mice indicates that the majority of neurons respond to multiple task elements rather than focusing on single functions. The findings come from analysis of brain activity across more than 100 mice performing a decision-making task.
A team led by Stefano Fusi at Columbia University examined data from the International Brain Laboratory. The mice viewed an image on a screen and turned a wheel to move it to the center. Neurons outside dedicated sensory areas responded to image processing, decision-making and movement generation.
Specialized neurons appeared only in regions such as the primary visual cortex. In other areas, cells showed mixed selectivity, reacting to various inputs like licks and whisker movements in differing strengths.
Fusi noted that earlier discoveries of highly specific cells represent exceptions. Ben Hayden of Baylor College of Medicine said the scale of the dataset, covering 14,000 neurons, supports the conclusion that broad responsiveness is the norm.
The researchers plan further work with primates and human patients to test whether the pattern holds beyond mice. The study was published in Nature.
