13 research outputs found
Discrete structure of the brain rhythms
Neuronal activity in the brain generates synchronous oscillations of the
Local Field Potential (LFP). The traditional analyses of the LFPs are based on
decomposing the signal into simpler components, such as sinusoidal harmonics.
However, a common drawback of such methods is that the decomposition primitives
are usually presumed from the onset, which may bias our understanding of the
signal's structure. Here, we introduce an alternative approach that allows an
impartial, high resolution, hands-off decomposition of the brain waves into a
small number of discrete, frequency-modulated oscillatory processes, which we
call oscillons. In particular, we demonstrate that mouse hippocampal LFP
contain a single oscillon that occupies the -frequency band and a
couple of -oscillons that correspond, respectively, to slow and fast
-waves. Since the oscillons were identified empirically, they may
represent the actual, physical structure of synchronous oscillations in
neuronal ensembles, whereas Fourier-defined "brain waves" are nothing but
poorly resolved oscillons.Comment: 17 pages, 9 figure
Topological Schemas of Memory Spaces
Hippocampal cognitive map---a neuronal representation of the spatial
environment---is broadly discussed in the computational neuroscience literature
for decades. More recent studies point out that hippocampus plays a major role
in producing yet another cognitive framework that incorporates not only
spatial, but also nonspatial memories---the memory space. However, unlike
cognitive maps, memory spaces have been barely studied from a theoretical
perspective. Here we propose an approach for modeling hippocampal memory spaces
as an epiphenomenon of neuronal spiking activity. First, we suggest that the
memory space may be viewed as a finite topological space---a hypothesis that
allows treating both spatial and nonspatial aspects of hippocampal function on
equal footing. We then model the topological properties of the memory space to
demonstrate that this concept naturally incorporates the notion of a cognitive
map. Lastly, we suggest a formal description of the memory consolidation
process and point out a connection between the proposed model of the memory
spaces to the so-called Morris' schemas, which emerge as the most compact
representation of the memory structure.Comment: 24 pages, 8 Figures, 1 Suppl. Figur
Multilevel Integration Entropies: The Case of Reconstruction of Structural Quasi-Stability in Building Complex Datasets
The emergence of complex datasets permeates versatile research disciplines leading to the necessity to develop methods for tackling complexity through finding the patterns inherent in datasets. The challenge lies in transforming the extracted patterns into pragmatic knowledge. In this paper, new information entropy measures for the characterization of the multidimensional structure extracted from complex datasets are proposed, complementing the conventionally-applied algebraic topology methods. Derived from topological relationships embedded in datasets, multilevel entropy measures are used to track transitions in building the high dimensional structure of datasets captured by the stratified partition of a simplicial complex. The proposed entropies are found suitable for defining and operationalizing the intuitive notions of structural relationships in a cumulative experience of a taxi drivers cognitive map formed by origins and destinations. The comparison of multilevel integration entropies calculated after each new added ride to the data structure indicates slowing the pace of change over time in the origin-destination structure. The repetitiveness in taxi driver rides, and the stability of origin-destination structure, exhibits the relative invariance of rides in space and time. These results shed light on taxi drivers ride habits, as well as on the commuting of persons whom he/she drove
Spatial representability of neuronal activity
A common approach to interpreting spiking activity is based on identifying the firing fields—regions in physical or configuration spaces that elicit responses of neurons. Common examples include hippocampal place cells that fire at preferred locations in the navigated environment, head direction cells that fire at preferred orientations of the animal’s head, view cells that respond to preferred spots in the visual field, etc. In all these cases, firing fields were discovered empirically, by trial and error. We argue that the existence and a number of properties of the firing fields can be established theoretically, through topological analyses of the neuronal spiking activity. In particular, we use Leray criterion powered by persistent homology theory, Eckhoff conditions and Region Connection Calculus to verify consistency of neuronal responses with a single coherent representation of space