Testing the Criticality Hypothesis in Local Cortical Circuits

测试局部皮质回路的临界假设

• 批准号: 1058291
• 负责人: John Beggs
• 金额: $ 36万
• 依托单位: Indiana University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2011
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2011-09-15 至 2015-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1058291&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Testing; Criticality; Hypothesis; Local; Cortical

How do cortical neurons collectively interact to process information? A new hypothesis, supported by recent multielectrode recordings in brain tissue samples and in the intact brain, suggests that local cortical networks self-organize to operate near a critical point. At this point, interactions across all spatial and temporal scales can occur, and avalanches of neural activity are generated at all sizes, resulting in approximately power law distributions. Very generic neural network models suggest that information processing will be optimal at this point. This "criticality hypothesis" has significant implications for computation in cortical circuits, and ultimately, for human health. Despite the potential importance of this hypothesis, it has remained untested in local cortical networks consisting of 100 or more synaptically connected neurons. Previous work has relied on local field potential recordings, which do not reveal the number or location of individual neurons generating signals. Previous work also has relied on relatively few (~60-100) broadly-spaced recording sites, which are insufficient to adequately sample a population of synaptically connected neurons. Here, the PI will record from 512 closely spaced electrodes, allowing us to monitor the spiking behavior of hundreds of neurons, many of which are expected to share synaptic connections. The tests the PI will perform of the criticality hypothesis will allow him, for the first time, to determine if networks of cortical neurons are critical or not. Scientific education and outreach is another vital component of this proposal. The PI will engage thousands of children from economically disadvantaged areas in the development and use of an interactive exhibit for WonderLab, a popular local science museum for K-middle school children. This exhibit is based on electroencephalogram (EEG) recordings and will display children's brain waves, allowing them to modify these waves by biofeedback. This exhibit will be placed in WonderLab museum, which serves 78,000 visitors each year. WonderLab has been named by Parent's magazine as one of the "Top 25 Science Centers in the United States."

皮质神经元如何集体相互作用以处理信息？一个新的假设，得到了脑组织样品中最近的多电极记录的支持，并在完整的大脑中表明，局部皮质网络会自组织以在临界点附近运行。在这一点上，可能会发生所有空间和时间尺度上的相互作用，并且在各种尺寸上都会产生神经活动的雪崩，从而产生大约功率定律分布。非常通用的神经网络模型表明，此时信息处理将是最佳的。这种“批判性假设”对皮质回路的计算具有重要意义，最终对人类健康具有重要意义。尽管该假设具有潜在的重要性，但在由100个或更多突触连接的神经元组成的局部皮质网络中仍未测试。先前的工作依赖于本地现场潜在记录，这些记录并未揭示产生信号的单个神经元的数量或位置。先前的工作还依赖相对较少的（〜60-100）宽间隔的记录位点，这些记录位点不足以对突触连接的神经元进行采样。在这里，PI将记录512个紧密间隔的电极，使我们能够监视数百个神经元的尖峰行为，其中许多神经元有望共享突触连接。 PI将执行关键性假设的测试将使他首次确定皮质神经元网络是否关键。科学教育和外展是该提案的另一个重要组成部分。 PI将与经济弱势地区的成千上万儿童一起开发和使用互动式展览，以供K-Middle小学生当地流行的当地科学博物馆Wonderlab。该展览基于脑电图（EEG）的记录，将显示儿童的脑波，使它们可以通过生物反馈修改这些波。该展览将被放置在Wonderlab博物馆中，该博物馆每年为78,000名游客提供服务。 Wonderlab由父母杂志命名为“美国前25位科学中心之一”。