Researchers discover the mechanism responsible for information transfer between different regions of the brain (IMAGE)
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It is currently known that brain waves express synchronized activity of tens of thousands of nerve cells (neurons), so a normal increase in wave intensity expresses synchronized activity of different groups of neurons for the purpose of transmitting information. But why and how do these waves contribute to the proper transmission of information in the brain? A new study conducted by researchers at Bar-Ilan University in Israel focuses on this key question. In the study, the researchers altered the level of synchronization in the area of the brain that transmits information. They then examined how this affected the transfer of information and how the area of the brain that received the information understood it. The researchers found that increasing synchronization of neurons in the upstream brain region that transmits information led to a significant improvement in transmission and processing of the information in the downstream region. Conversely, when synchronization was decreased, the representation of the information in the downstream region was impaired. Photo: A figure showing the synchrony-inducing neurons (granule cells) marked in red, while rest of the neurons are marked in blue. Only the red neurons can be activated via flashes of light (optogenetics method). This method allowed specific optogenetic activation of these neurons.
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Tal Dalal
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