Harvard University, Molecular and Cellular Biology, Cambridge, MA, 02138, USA; Harvard University, Center for Brain Science, Cambridge, MA, 02138, USA; Boston University, Department of Biology, Boston, MA, 02115, USA.
Janelia Research Campus, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Ashburn, VA, 20147, USA.
Neuron. 2018 Nov 21;100(4):876-890.e5. doi: 10.1016/j.neuron.2018.09.042. Epub 2018 Oct 25.
Simultaneous recordings of large populations of neurons in behaving animals allow detailed observation of high-dimensional, complex brain activity. However, experimental approaches often focus on singular behavioral paradigms or brain areas. Here, we recorded whole-brain neuronal activity of larval zebrafish presented with a battery of visual stimuli while recording fictive motor output. We identified neurons tuned to each stimulus type and motor output and discovered groups of neurons in the anterior hindbrain that respond to different stimuli eliciting similar behavioral responses. These convergent sensorimotor representations were only weakly correlated to instantaneous motor activity, suggesting that they critically inform, but do not directly generate, behavioral choices. To catalog brain-wide activity beyond explicit sensorimotor processing, we developed an unsupervised clustering technique that organizes neurons into functional groups. These analyses enabled a broad overview of the functional organization of the brain and revealed numerous brain nuclei whose neurons exhibit concerted activity patterns.
在行为动物中同时记录大量神经元，可允许对高维、复杂的大脑活动进行详细观察。然而，实验方法通常侧重于单一的行为范式或大脑区域。在这里，我们记录了幼鱼在一系列视觉刺激下的全脑神经元活动，同时记录了虚构的运动输出。我们鉴定出对每种刺激类型和运动输出敏感的神经元，并发现前脑后脑中有一组神经元对不同的刺激产生相似的行为反应。这些会聚的感觉运动表示仅与瞬时运动活动弱相关，表明它们关键地提供信息，但不直接产生行为选择。为了对超出明显感觉运动处理的全脑活动进行编目，我们开发了一种无监督聚类技术，将神经元组织成功能组。这些分析使我们能够全面了解大脑的功能组织，并揭示了许多大脑核，其神经元表现出协调的活动模式。
