Researchers from Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, the University of Toronto, and collaborators studied how the human brain maintains task context in working memory as goals change. Analyzing neural recordings from 25 treatment-resistant epilepsy patients with surgically implanted electrodes while participants completed rule-based tasks over several minutes, the team found that medial frontal cortex neurons sustained a stable activity pattern to represent a rule even after cues disappeared, while hippocampal neurons generated a flexible rule representation whose format shifted depending on required behavior.Published in Nature Human Behaviour (2026), the work highlights how the brain encodes the same information through patterns of differing stability and flexibility to support rapid behavioral generalization.
- The medial frontal cortex region, including the pre-supplementary motor area (preSMA) and dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC), was studied; all electrode locations were aligned to a brain atlas and color-coded by region.
- Authors proposed embedding durable, time-stable rule representations like those in preSMA/dACC to address generalization failures in large language models and other machine-learning architectures.
- The medial frontal cortex region, including the pre-supplementary motor area (preSMA) and dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC), was studied; all electrode locations were aligned to a brain atlas and color-coded by region.
- Authors proposed embedding durable, time-stable rule representations like those in preSMA/dACC to address generalization failures in large language models and other machine-learning architectures.
Michał Januszewski and Viren Jain write that researchers have released a complete wiring diagram of the male fruit fly's brain and central nervous system, marking it as the largest brain map to date. In collaboration with HHMI Janelia, this project utilized computing and advanced techniques to create an annotated cellular-scale map containing over 166,000 neurons and 125 million synaptic connections. This foundational resource aims to help scientists understand how nervous systems function and may eventually assist in understanding complex human brain processes like memory or disease.
- The connectome includes the ventral nerve cord, which functions similarly to a spinal cord.
- Researchers are using similar mapping techniques on vertebrates, including fish and mice.
- This map complements previously released female fruit fly connectomes, allowing for studies of sexual dimorphism in behavior like courtship or aggression.
- The connectome includes the ventral nerve cord, which functions similarly to a spinal cord.
- Researchers are using similar mapping techniques on vertebrates, including fish and mice.
- This map complements previously released female fruit fly connectomes, allowing for studies of sexual dimorphism in behavior like courtship or aggression.
David Orenstein writes about a new theory from MIT's Picower Institute arguing that cognition and consciousness arise from analog computations performed by traveling brain waves, rather than from the sequential processing of fixed neural circuits.
- Published in *The Journal of Neuroscience* by Earl Miller, Scott Brincat, and Jefferson Roy; the paper is a review synthesizing years of experimental evidence.
- Alpha and beta waves act as "mobile stencils" that spatially and temporally gate which gamma waves can process sensory input, enabling what the authors call "spatiotemporal computing."
- Ephaptic coupling — electric fields directly influencing neural spiking — provides a rapid feedback mechanism by which waves coordinate the very neurons that generate them.
- Anesthesia studies by Miller and Emery Brown show three drugs with different molecular targets all disrupt large-scale wave organization to produce unconsciousness, supporting the claim that consciousness depends on wave integrity rather than specific receptors.
- Miller acknowledges the theory still needs direct evidence of analog computation in brain wave patterns.
- Published in *The Journal of Neuroscience* by Earl Miller, Scott Brincat, and Jefferson Roy; the paper is a review synthesizing years of experimental evidence.
- Alpha and beta waves act as "mobile stencils" that spatially and temporally gate which gamma waves can process sensory input, enabling what the authors call "spatiotemporal computing."
- Ephaptic coupling — electric fields directly influencing neural spiking — provides a rapid feedback mechanism by which waves coordinate the very neurons that generate them.
- Anesthesia studies by Miller and Emery Brown show three drugs with different molecular targets all disrupt large-scale wave organization to produce unconsciousness, supporting the claim that consciousness depends on wave integrity rather than specific receptors.
- Miller acknowledges the theory still needs direct evidence of analog computation in brain wave patterns.
Conor Feehly writes that neuroscientists Lisa Feldman Barrett (Northeastern) and Earl Miller (MIT) propose a new framework for brain categorization in which the nervous system acts as a prediction engine rather than a passive filing cabinet.
Their model, published in Nature Reviews Neuroscience, proposes categories are projected onto the world based on the body's energetic needs, with the limbic core providing predictive signals that interact with compressed sensory input to guide behavior.
- 90% of synaptic connections in the visual cortex facilitate feedback signaling rather than feedforward, suggesting the brain is structurally biased toward prediction.
- The framework views the nervous system as a bow tie with two funnels, compressing sensory and physiological signals towards the limbic core.
Their model, published in Nature Reviews Neuroscience, proposes categories are projected onto the world based on the body's energetic needs, with the limbic core providing predictive signals that interact with compressed sensory input to guide behavior.
- 90% of synaptic connections in the visual cortex facilitate feedback signaling rather than feedforward, suggesting the brain is structurally biased toward prediction.
- The framework views the nervous system as a bow tie with two funnels, compressing sensory and physiological signals towards the limbic core.
Allison Parshall writes that psilocybin creates a hidden order amid brain chaos, potentially underlying the psychedelic sense of oneness, with sensory networks less connected to the brain and higher-level networks more integrated.
In a Nature study of 62 healthy adults scanned at rest, meditating, listening to music and watching a movie after dosing, participants reporting strong embeddedness showed more similar brain activity patterns across tasks than those with weaker effects.
The findings suggest the brain actively maintains the self-world boundary that psychedelics temporarily reduce, offering a neurobiological basis for context-dependent experiences.
In a Nature study of 62 healthy adults scanned at rest, meditating, listening to music and watching a movie after dosing, participants reporting strong embeddedness showed more similar brain activity patterns across tasks than those with weaker effects.
The findings suggest the brain actively maintains the self-world boundary that psychedelics temporarily reduce, offering a neurobiological basis for context-dependent experiences.
Charles Choi writes that researchers have identified neurons in mice that encode the intrinsic value of information, allowing for curiosity-driven behavior even when obtaining knowledge reduces physical rewards. Using population neural recordings in the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC), scientists discovered that roughly 20% of decision-making neurons specifically signal the expected value of incoming information rather than reward magnitude. This indicates that mammalian brains process information seeking through distinct neural representations analogous to food or water.
- The OFC maintains separate activity patterns for extrinsic rewards and intrinsic informational values.
- Mice demonstrated a willingness to trade physical volume in exchange for advance knowledge.
- Uncertainty drives curiosity, with increased interest in informative cues as the delay before reward increases.
- The OFC maintains separate activity patterns for extrinsic rewards and intrinsic informational values.
- Mice demonstrated a willingness to trade physical volume in exchange for advance knowledge.
- Uncertainty drives curiosity, with increased interest in informative cues as the delay before reward increases.
Researchers have completed the first comprehensive wiring map of an adult fruit fly's central nervous system, linking neurons from the brain to those in the body through the nerve cord. The findings suggest that motor control is largely organized into distributed local circuits within specific body parts rather than being directed by a single centralized command center in the brain. This breakthrough allows scientists to trace information flow across an entire nervous system, moving from sensory perception to physical action.
- Mapping of every connection between neurons in the brain and nerve cord
- Discovery of decentralized motor control via local neural modules
- Ability to observe how sensation translates into movement holistically
- Mapping of every connection between neurons in the brain and nerve cord
- Discovery of decentralized motor control via local neural modules
- Ability to observe how sensation translates into movement holistically
A new study from NYU Langone Health reveals how the brain's hippocampal CA1 region functions as a memory switchboard to balance learning new information with protecting old memories. By using divergent firing patterns, a core group of neurons can manage both incoming and outgoing signals without crossing lines or overwriting existing data. This mechanism helps maintain stability in long-term memory storage while allowing for continuous plasticity during experience.
- The CA1 region acts as a physical hub connecting the CA3 region to the retrosplenial cortex.
- Divergent firing patterns allow shared neurons to serve separate incoming and outgoing communication channels.
- Hub cells remain active during sleep through sharp-wave ripples to facilitate memory consolidation.
- Research provides potential insights into Alzheimer's disease and methods to prevent catastrophic forgetting in artificial intelligence.
- The CA1 region acts as a physical hub connecting the CA3 region to the retrosplenial cortex.
- Divergent firing patterns allow shared neurons to serve separate incoming and outgoing communication channels.
- Hub cells remain active during sleep through sharp-wave ripples to facilitate memory consolidation.
- Research provides potential insights into Alzheimer's disease and methods to prevent catastrophic forgetting in artificial intelligence.
Researchers have identified the first definitive neural evidence of how the brain creates and reuses abstract symbols to facilitate creative thinking. By studying primate models, scientists located this symbolic processing engine within the ventral premotor cortex. This region serves as a mediator between high-level planning in the prefrontal cortex and physical execution in the motor cortex, acting much like a mental typewriter that specifies symbolic building blocks before movement occurs.
Neuroscientists have identified a novel mechanism called behavioral timescale synaptic plasticity (BTSP) that allows the brain to learn from single experiences. While traditional Hebbian plasticity requires repeated stimulation over time, BTSP operates on a scale of several seconds, enabling immediate memory formation in the hippocampus. This process is driven by dendritic plateau potentials that can strengthen synapses across a wider temporal window than previously understood.
Main topics:
* Discovery of behavioral timescale synaptic plasticity (BTSP)
* Comparison between Hebbian learning and single-trial learning
* The role of dendritic plateau potentials in memory formation
* How BTSP helps solve the credit assignment problem in neuroscience
* Potential implications for artificial intelligence models
Main topics:
* Discovery of behavioral timescale synaptic plasticity (BTSP)
* Comparison between Hebbian learning and single-trial learning
* The role of dendritic plateau potentials in memory formation
* How BTSP helps solve the credit assignment problem in neuroscience
* Potential implications for artificial intelligence models
