The mechanism underlying the processing of spatially separated multiple local features to form a unique whole object is an important issue in visual object recognition. We tested whether, in behaving monkeys, the spike correlation between pairs of inferior temporal (IT) neurons dynamically changes depending on the spatial configuration of the local features within a whole object. We prepared mo...

Understanding how populations of neurons encode sensory information is a major goal of systems neuroscience. Attempts to answer this question have focused on responses measured over several hundred milliseconds, a duration much longer than that frequently used by animals to make decisions about the environment. How reliably sensory information is encoded on briefer time scales, and how best to ...

The mechanisms underlying the facilitation (priming) of long-term potentiation (LTP) by prior activation of metabotropic glutamate receptors (mGluRs) were investigated in area CA1 of rat hippocampal slices. In particular, we focused on whether a long-lasting increase in postsynaptic excitability could account for the facilitated LTP. Administration of the mGluR agonist 1S, 3R-aminocyclopentaned...

We propose a model for learning representations of time dependent data with a population of spiking neurons. Encoding is based on a standard spiking neuron model, and the spike timings of the neurons represent the stimulus. Learning is based on the sole principle of maximization of representation accuracy: the stimulus can be decoded from the spike timings with minimum error. Since the encoding...

We describe a simple method, using readily available minaturised components, for inducing and monitoring long-term potentiation (LTP) at perforant path-granule cell synapses in the dentate gyrus of the freely moving mouse. Tetanic stimulation induced LTP of the field EPSP and the population spike which persisted for more than 24 h but was not present 10 days after the tetanus. The potentiation ...

The variability of neuronal responses is proportional to the mean in many brain areas, which suggests that neural responses might follow a Poisson distribution. In this issue of Neuron, Maimon and Assad document a surprising violation of Poisson firing. Specifically, they show that there are differences in the amount of periodic structure in spike trains across cortical areas, with multimodal s...

Durum wheat (Triticum turgidum durum; 2n = 4x = 28; genome AABB) has long been an important food resource for human diets. The projected increase of the world's population to 9.1 billion by 2050 has highlighted the importance and urgency for improving the yield and quality performance of durum wheat. A backcrossed population, which was derived from the durum wheat variety 'Bellaroi' (recurrent ...

Population spikes vary in size during prolonged epileptic (“ictal”) discharges, indicating variations in neuronal synchronisation. Here we investigate the role of changes in tissue electrical resistivity in this process. We used the rat hippocampal slice, low Ca model of epilepsy and measured changes in pyramidal layer extracellular resistance during the course of electrographic seizures. Durin...

Population spikes vary in size during prolonged epileptic ("ictal") discharges, indicating variations in neuronal synchronization. Here we investigate the role of changes in tissue electrical resistivity in this process. We used the rat hippocampal slice, low-Ca(2+) model of epilepsy and measured changes in pyramidal layer extracellular resistance during the course of electrographic seizures. D...

Spike trains are rich in information that can be extracted to guide behaviors at millisecond time resolution or across longer time intervals. In sensory systems, the information usually is defined with respect to the stimulus. Especially in motor systems, however, it is equally critical to understand how spike trains predict behavior. Thus, our goal was to compare systematically spike trains in...