Vinck, Womelsdorf, Fries review the role of gamma band synchronization in information transfer in the cortex. They argue that due to feedforward coincidence detection and phase-coupling, gamma synchronization is important for flexible routing of information and may be an important determinant of spike rate coding.
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Christian Ruff pays tribute to the late, great, Jon Driver by reviewing neural mechanisms of top-down control of attention and memory.
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A review in Science of Sue Corkin’s book on the famous neuropsychology patient H.M., who could no longer form memories after his hippocampus was removed.
Permanent Present Tense The Unforgettable Life of the Amnesic Patient, H.M. by Suzanne Corkin Basic Books, New York, 2013. 400 pp. $28.99, C$32. ISBN 9780465031597. Allen Lane, London. £20. ISBN 9781846142710.
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Jutras et al find a relationship between hippocampal theta and visual exploration via saccadic eye movements. Saccades caused a theta reset that was predictive of subsequent recognition of visual images. Enhanced theta power before stimulus onset was also predictive of recognition.
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Eldar et al show that neural gain influences learning style. Subjects learned associations between pictures and reward. The association could be based on different stimulus dimensions and different people had different predispositions for one dimension or the other. Eldar et al assessed neural gain by pupil dilation (which is correlated with locus coeruleus norepinephrine activity) and found that the higher the gain, the more likely subjects were to follow their predispositions. The increase in gain was thought to boost the asymmetry of strength between different functional networks which are responsible for the predisposition in learning style.
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Miller Lab graduate student Simon Kornblith publishes a paper in Neuron from work in his old lab. By combining FMRI with electrode recording and stimulation, they found an area in the occipitotemporal cortex that has many scene-selective neurons, the lateral place patch (LPP). By stimulating it, they discover connections to several other cortical areas, including a medial place patch (MPP) in the parahippocampal gyrus. Elegant and important work, Simon, congratulations! Now, get back to work. ?
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A flurry of articles about Picower Institute’s Susumu Tonegawa’s paper implanting false memories in the mouse brain. They identified and tagged a memory engram for one environment, then activated that engram in a different environment while pairing it with shock. Later, the animals showed fear in the first environment as if they were shocked there.
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The journal Cortex will peer-review your experimental plan. If accepted, they agree to publish your results, regardless of how they turn out. But you must release your raw data so others can have at it.
Article in the Guardian -
Shenhav, Botvinick, and Cohen tie together a number of observations and notions into a new theory of ACC function: allocation of control based on an evaluation of the expected value of control (EVC).
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Dave Eagleman spells it out for us.