How does brain stores information

By contrast, there is no equivalent theory for analog information, and attempts to approximate it by increasing the quantization of an analog signal into ever smaller parts suggest that it is nowhere near as robust. Indeed, Tee and Taylor say their theoretical analysis suggests that the brain cannot work like this.

But the experimental evidence that the brain stores data discretely has been lacking. Until now. Tee and Taylor go on to say that if the brain stores information in discrete form, it should process it in a different way than analog information. And that should lead to a measurable difference in human behavior in certain decision-making processes.

In particular, Tee and Taylor focus on problems in which people have to make decisions based on their assessment of probabilities. If the brain is able to assess probabilities in a continuous way, this should lead to a range of human behavior that varies smoothly as the probabilities change. However, if the human brain works on a discrete basis, it must treat some probabilities in the same way. For example, a person might judge probabilities as being low, medium, or high.

In other words, the probabilities must be rounded into specific categories—probabilities of 0. In that case the range of human behavior would follow a step-like structure that reflects the jump from low to medium to high risk.

So Tee and Taylor studied human decision-making as probabilities change. They did this by testing the way over 80 people judged and added probabilities associated with roulette wheels in more than 2, experimental trials. The experiments employed a similar approach. For example, participants were shown a roulette wheel with a certain sector mapped out and asked to judge the probability of the ball landing in that sector.

Then they were shown two wheels with different sectors mapped out. They had to judge the probability of the ball landing in both sectors.

In the maze, mice run through a straight corridor that contains visual cues. Different cues alert the mice to turn either left or right at an upcoming fork for a reward.

After this corridor, mice must remember the previous cues in order to make the correct navigation choice that will lead to a reward. Tank and his colleagues found that as mice ran through this maze, a certain sequence of neuronal activity was triggered and differed depending on whether the cues signaled a left or right decision. Each individual neuron involved in these sequences was only active for a short period of time, but their combined activity formed a specific and distinct temporal sequence that began after receiving either a left-turn signal or a right turn one.

Visual cues encountered during the first part of the task trigger a specific pattern of neuronal activation, allowing the mouse to choose the correct path later. Interestingly, when the mouse made a wrong turn, the neuronal pattern began correctly, but at some point during the trial switched to the neuronal pattern of the opposite turn.

Researchers could actually see the mouse change its mind as the neuronal firing pattern shifted. This shift was most likely to occur during the delay period, but could occur at any time during the task, even when the mouse was still running through the visual cue area.

While specific neurons preferred either left or right, these neurons were intermingled together within the same area of the brain, indicating that although large regions may be responsible for certain types of tasks, within those regions the specific neurons required for different memories are mixed together.

This paper provides new insight into previous findings from studies on human memory. For example, researchers have found that when people are having difficulty remembering a specific word, their memory may be triggered by a word that shares common features e.

This may also help explain age related dementia and confusion — if the connections between neurons are not as strong, it may lead to more frequent switching between activity sequences. Rebecca Reh is a Ph. Video of mouse moving through virtual reality maze from Tank study.

The Cognitive Neuroscience of Memory since H. Annual Review of Neuroscience, v. According to McGill, as memories are played through the hippocampus, the connections between neurons associated with a memory eventually become a fixed combination, so that if you hear a piece of music for example, you are likely to be flooded with other memories you associate with a certain episode where you heard that same music. In a brain scan, scientists see these different regions of the brain light up when someone is recalling an episode of memory , demonstrating how memories represent an index of these different recorded sensations and thoughts.

The hippocampus helps to solidify the pattern of connections that form a memory, but the memory itself depends on the solidity of the connections between individual brain cells, according to research from McGill and from New York University.

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