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Nature 461, 50-51 (3 September 2009) | doi:10.1038/461050a; Published online 2 September 2009

Neuroscience: Persistent feedback

Hyojung Seo¹ & Daeyeol Lee¹

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Abstract

How does the brain remember the consequences of our actions? Persistent activity in the prefrontal cortex and basal ganglia may be crucial for learning correct actions through experience.

Do you jump out of bed when you hear the alarm clock ring in the morning? Or do you push the snoozer? Your choice will depend on the consequences of similar actions in the past. Typically, if an action triggered by a stimulus leads to a pleasant outcome, such as food or safety, we are more likely to perform the same action on re-encountering the same stimulus¹. Therefore, a fundamental building block in shaping behaviour is the relationship between a sensory event, a chosen action and its consequences, but how the brain stores this information is still a matter of speculation. A recent paper in Neuron by Histed et al.² sheds some light on these mechanisms by showing that neurons in the primate prefrontal cortex and basal ganglia display persistent activity that is related to the outcomes of previous actions.

A repost…

Thanks to Tweetlinks, 10-25-09 [A Blog Around The Clock]
from ScienceBlogs : Combined Feed by Coturnix

Any internet user will know that the web, like the outside world (or “meatspace”), follows certain rules.

We take a look at 10, with the most well-known and widely used towards the top and some of the lesser lights lower down.

Not next year, when it will be either Anand or Topalov! But how far later?

In one of the 4 myths (depending on what you believe) on the game of chess, I held the view that we have not yet reached the stage where we expect a machine (read computer) to become World Chess Champion, notwithstanding that one win of DeepBlue against Garry Kasparov in 1997. But I left a question mark against that conclusion as I was not sure how long this state of affairs would hold, seeing the speed of progress in computer technology. More powerful processors, larger memory chips, and sophisticated software to utilize the hardware advances are hitting the road every year.