Study by KIBS Investigator Randy Bruno Leads to New Theory of How the Brain is Wired
Recordings From Rat Brain Reveals Independent, Rather Than Serial, Processing in the Layers of the Cerebral Cortex
Recent work by Randy Bruno's lab, published in the June 28th issue of the journal Science, challenges long-held views of how the brain is wired.
Conventional understanding of the propagation of sensory information is that signals travel through the layers of the cerebral cortex in a serial manner. Bruno and his graduate student, Christine Constantinople, recorded activity of the neurons that relay the tactile information from rat whiskers to the brain. They found that the nerve signals were being processed simultaneously in two layers of the cortex, rather than the whole signal traveling step-wise through the layers.
A microscope image of a nerve cell and its many branches (or dendrites) in a deep layer of a rat's cerebral cortex.
As Bruno points out, the possibility that different layers of the cortex form separate circuits performing different functions "opens up a different way of thinking about how the cerebral cortex does what it does, which includes not only processing sight, sound and touch but higher functions such as speech, decision-making and abstract thought.”
For more information on these exciting new findings, read the Study Advances New Theory of How the Brain Is Wired story by the Columbia News team.