{"id":124194,"date":"2024-11-10T10:54:44","date_gmt":"2024-11-10T03:54:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/?p=124194"},"modified":"2024-11-10T10:54:44","modified_gmt":"2024-11-10T03:54:44","slug":"the-mystery-of-how-neurons-control-the-brain-has-finally-been-solved-sciencealert","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/?p=124194","title":{"rendered":"The Mystery of How Neurons Control The Brain Has Finally Been Solved : ScienceAlert"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"fluid\"\r\n     data-ad-layout-key=\"-fb+5w+4e-db+86\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"7910942971\"><\/ins>\r\n<script>\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p>The brain is a marvel of efficiency, honed by thousands of years of evolution so it can adapt and thrive in a rapidly changing world. Yet, despite decades of research, the mystery of how the brain achieves this has remained elusive.<\/p>\n<p><!-- START single\/mrec --><br \/>\n<!-- END single\/mrec --><\/p>\n<p>Our <a href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1016\/j.cell.2024.10.004\">new research, published in the journal <em>Cell<\/em><\/a>, reveals how neurons \u2013 the cells responsible for your childhood memories, thoughts and emotions \u2013 coordinate their activity.<\/p>\n<p><!-- START single\/mrec --><br \/>\n<!-- END single\/mrec --><\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s a bit like being a worker in a high-performing business. Balancing individual skills with teamwork is key to success, but how do you achieve the balance?<\/p>\n<p><!-- START single\/mrec --><br \/>\n<!-- END single\/mrec --><\/p>\n<p>As it turns out, the brain&#8217;s secret is surprisingly simple: devote no more than half (and no less than 40 percent) of each cell&#8217;s effort to individual tasks.<\/p>\n<p><!-- START single\/mrec --><br \/>\n<!-- END single\/mrec --><\/p>\n<p>Where does the rest of the effort go? Towards scalable teamwork.<\/p>\n<p><!-- START single\/mrec --><br \/>\n<!-- END single\/mrec --><\/p>\n<p>And here&#8217;s the kicker: we found the exact same organizational structure across the brains of five species \u2013 from fruit flies and nematodes to zebrafish, mice and monkeys.<\/p>\n<p><!-- START single\/mrec --><br \/>\n<!-- END single\/mrec --><\/p>\n<p>These species come from different branches of the tree of life that are separated by more than a <a href=\"https:\/\/timetree.org\/\">billion years of evolution<\/a>, suggesting we may have uncovered a fundamental principle for optimised information processing. It also offers powerful lessons for any complex system today.<\/p>\n<p><!-- START single\/mrec --><br \/>\n<!-- END single\/mrec --><\/p>\n<h2>The critical middle ground<\/h2>\n<p>Our discovery addresses a long-standing <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nature.com\/articles\/nrn1888\">debate about the brain<\/a>: do neurons act like <a href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1126\/science.287.5456.1273\">star players<\/a> (each highly specialised and efficient) or do they prioritise <a href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1016\/j.conb.2019.02.002\">teamwork<\/a> (ensuring the whole system works even when some elements falter)?<\/p>\n<p><!-- START single\/mrec --><br \/>\n<!-- END single\/mrec --><\/p>\n<p>Answering this question has been challenging. Until recently, neuroscience tools were limited to either recording the activity of a few cells, or of several million.<\/p>\n<p><!-- START single\/mrec --><br \/>\n<!-- END single\/mrec --><\/p>\n<p>It would be like trying to understand a massive company by either interviewing a handful of employees or by only receiving high-level department summaries. The critical middle ground was missing.<\/p>\n<p><!-- START single\/mrec --><br \/>\n<!-- END single\/mrec --><\/p>\n<p>However, with advances in <a href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1016\/j.neuron.2012.02.011\">calcium imaging<\/a>, we can now record signals from tens of thousands of cells simultaneously. Calcium imaging is a method that lets us watch neural activity in real time by using fluorescent sensors that light up according to calcium levels in the cell.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Time-Lapse: Zebrafish Neural Activity by Dr. Phillip Keller\" width=\"1170\" height=\"878\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Z1ZciSP6RS4?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe> frameborder=&#8221;0\u2033 allow=&#8221;accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share&#8221; referrerpolicy=&#8221;strict-origin-when-cross-origin&#8221; allowfullscreen&gt;<\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Applying insights from my physics training to analyze large-scale datasets, we found that brain activity unfolds according to a <a href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/explainer-what-are-fractals-10865\">fractal hierarchy<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><!-- START single\/mrec --><br \/>\n<!-- END single\/mrec --><\/p>\n<p>Cells work together to build larger, coordinated networks, creating an organization with each scale mirroring those above and below.<\/p>\n<p><!-- START single\/mrec --><br \/>\n<!-- END single\/mrec --><\/p>\n<p>This structure answered the debate: the brain actually does <em>both<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p><!-- START single\/mrec --><br \/>\n<!-- END single\/mrec --><\/p>\n<p>It balances individuality and teamwork, and does so in a clever way. Roughly half of the effort goes to &#8220;personal&#8221; performance as neurons collaborate within increasingly larger networks.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_142808\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-142808\" style=\"width: 642px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.sciencealert.com\/images\/2024\/11\/SierpinskiTriangleExampleOfAFractal.jpg\" alt=\"A triangle made out of repeating patterns of triangles\" width=\"642\" height=\"446\" class=\"wp-image-142808 size-full\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.sciencealert.com\/images\/2024\/11\/SierpinskiTriangleExampleOfAFractal.jpg 642w, https:\/\/www.sciencealert.com\/images\/2024\/11\/SierpinskiTriangleExampleOfAFractal-597x415.jpg 597w, https:\/\/www.sciencealert.com\/images\/2024\/11\/SierpinskiTriangleExampleOfAFractal-600x417.jpg 600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 642px) 100vw, 642px\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-142808\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Sierpi%C5%84ski_triangle\">Sierpi\u0144ski triangle<\/a> is an example of a fractal, where the same pattern repeats at infinite scales. (<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Sierpi%C5%84ski_triangle#\/media\/File:Sierpinski_triangle.svg\">Beojan Stanislaus\/Wikimedia Commons\/CC BY SA<\/a>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2>The brain can rapidly adapt to change<\/h2>\n<p>To test whether the brain&#8217;s structure had unique advantages, we ran computational simulations, revealing that this fractal hierarchy optimizes information flow across the brain.<\/p>\n<p><!-- START single\/mrec --><br \/>\n<!-- END single\/mrec --><\/p>\n<p>It allows the brain to do something crucial: adapt to change. It ensures the brain operates efficiently, accomplishing tasks with minimal resources while staying resilient by maintaining function even when neurons misfire.<\/p>\n<p><!-- START single\/mrec --><br \/>\n<!-- END single\/mrec --><\/p>\n<p>Whether you are navigating unfamiliar terrain or reacting to a sudden threat, your brain processes and acts on new information rapidly. Neurons continuously adjust their coordination, keeping the brain stable enough for deep thought, yet agile enough to respond to new challenges.<\/p>\n<p><!-- START single\/mrec --><br \/>\n<!-- END single\/mrec --><\/p>\n<p>The multiscale organization we found allows different strategies \u2013 or &#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.sciencedirect.com\/topics\/neuroscience\/neural-coding\">neural codes<\/a>&#8221; \u2013 to function at different scales.<\/p>\n<p><!-- START single\/mrec --><br \/>\n<!-- END single\/mrec --><\/p>\n<p>For instance, we found that zebrafish movement relies on many neurons working in unison. This resilient design ensures swimming continues smoothly, even in fast-changing environments.<\/p>\n<p><!-- START single\/mrec --><br \/>\n<!-- END single\/mrec --><\/p>\n<p>By contrast, mouse vision adapts at the cellular scale, permitting the precision required to extract fine details from a scene. Here, if a few neurons miss key pieces of information, the entire perception can shift \u2013 like when an optical illusion tricks your brain.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_142799\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-142799\" style=\"width: 642px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.sciencealert.com\/images\/2024\/11\/EvolutionaryTreeOfOurLastCommonAncestors.jpg\" alt=\"Evolutionary tree showing our last common ancestors including when we split from mice, fish, flies and worms\" width=\"642\" height=\"446\" class=\"wp-image-142799 size-full\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.sciencealert.com\/images\/2024\/11\/EvolutionaryTreeOfOurLastCommonAncestors.jpg 642w, https:\/\/www.sciencealert.com\/images\/2024\/11\/EvolutionaryTreeOfOurLastCommonAncestors-597x415.jpg 597w, https:\/\/www.sciencealert.com\/images\/2024\/11\/EvolutionaryTreeOfOurLastCommonAncestors-600x417.jpg 600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 642px) 100vw, 642px\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-142799\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Evolutionary tree of species analyzed in our study, each displaying a fractal neural organization that balances efficiency and resilience. MYA: million years ago; BYA: billion years ago. (Brandon Munn)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Our findings reveal that this fractal coordination of neuron activity occurs across a vast evolutionary span: from vertebrates, whose last common ancestor lived 450 million years ago, to invertebrates, dating back a billion years.<\/p>\n<p><!-- START single\/mrec --><br \/>\n<!-- END single\/mrec --><\/p>\n<p>This suggests brains have evolved to balance efficiency with resilience, allowing for optimized information processing and adaptability to new behavioral demands. The evolutionary persistence hints that we&#8217;ve uncovered a fundamental design principle.<\/p>\n<p><!-- START single\/mrec --><br \/>\n<!-- END single\/mrec --><\/p>\n<h2>A fundamental principle?<\/h2>\n<p>These are exciting times, as physics and neuroscience continue interacting to uncover the universal laws of the brain, crafted over eons of natural selection. Future work will be needed to see how these principles might play out in the human brain.<\/p>\n<p><!-- START single\/mrec --><br \/>\n<!-- END single\/mrec --><\/p>\n<p>Our findings also hint at something bigger: this simple rule of individual focus and scalable teamwork might not just be a solution for the brain.<\/p>\n<p><!-- START single\/mrec --><br \/>\n<!-- END single\/mrec --><\/p>\n<p>When elements are organized into tiered networks, resources can be shared efficiently, and the system becomes robust against disruptions.<\/p>\n<p><!-- START single\/mrec --><br \/>\n<!-- END single\/mrec --><\/p>\n<p>The best businesses operate in the same way \u2014 when a new challenge arises, individuals can react without waiting for instructions from their manager, allowing them to solve the problem while remaining supported by the organization rapidly.<\/p>\n<p><!-- START single\/mrec --><br \/>\n<!-- END single\/mrec --><\/p>\n<p>It may be a universal principle to achieve resilience and efficiency in complex systems.<\/p>\n<p>It appears basketball legend <a href=\"https:\/\/www.forbes.com\/sites\/grantfreeland\/2018\/06\/01\/talent-wins-games-teamwork-wins-championships\/\">Michael Jordan<\/a> was right when he said: &#8220;talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence win championships&#8221;.<!-- Below is The Conversation's page counter tag. Please DO NOT REMOVE. --><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/counter.theconversation.com\/content\/242792\/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic\" alt=\"The Conversation\" width=\"1\" height=\"1\" style=\"border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important;\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><!-- End of code. If you don't see any code above, please get new code from the Advanced tab after you click the republish button. The page counter does not collect any personal data. More info: https:\/\/theconversation.com\/republishing-guidelines -->\n<\/p>\n<p><span><a href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/profiles\/brandon-robert-munn-1181221\"><em>Brandon Robert Munn<\/em><\/a><em>, Postdoctoral research fellow, <a href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/institutions\/university-of-sydney-841\">University of Sydney<\/a><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>This article is republished from <a href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\">The Conversation<\/a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/how-do-brains-coordinate-activity-from-fruit-flies-to-monkeys-we-discovered-this-universal-principle-242792\">original article<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"fluid\"\r\n     data-ad-layout-key=\"-fb+5w+4e-db+86\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"7910942971\"><\/ins>\r\n<script>\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script><br \/>\n<br \/><div data-type=\"_mgwidget\" data-widget-id=\"1660802\">\r\n<\/div>\r\n<script>(function(w,q){w[q]=w[q]||[];w[q].push([\"_mgc.load\"])})(window,\"_mgq\");\r\n<\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sciencealert.com\/the-mystery-of-how-neurons-control-the-brain-has-finally-been-solved\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The brain is a marvel of efficiency, honed by thousands of years of evolution so it can adapt and thrive in a rapidly changing world. Yet, despite decades of research, &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/?p=124194\" class=\"more-link\">Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-124194","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-health","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/124194","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=124194"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/124194\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=124194"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=124194"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=124194"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}