Untangling the brain

14Mar11

Here’s a neat video describing a recent set of experiments designed to associate individual cells in the brain of a mouse to specific functions (in this case, how the mouse’s brain processes visual stimuli).

It’s a neat demonstration of how learning and memories can lead to changes in neuronal connections. Even though it was a relatively simple experiment (in design only; I imagine it was extremely difficult to implement), it shows how incredibly complex our brains are, for even the most seemingly mundane tasks.

(Here are links to the papers referred to at the end of the video: Network anatomy and in vivo physiology of visual cortical neurons and Wiring specificity in the direction-selectivity circuit of the retina)