Neural syntax: cell assemblies, synapsembles and readers

By György Buzsáki. Neuron, 2010

1,246 citations recorded by the source corpus.

Summary A widely discussed hypothesis in neuroscience is that transiently active ensembles of neurons, known as ‘cell assemblies’, underlie numerous operations of the brain, from encoding memories to reasoning. However, the mechanisms responsible for the formation and disbanding of cell assemblies and temporal evolution of cell assembly sequences are not well understood. I introduce and review three interconnected topics, which could facilitate progress in defining cell assemblies, identifying their neuronal organization and revealing causal relationships between assembly organization and behavior. First, I hypothesize that cell assemblies are best understood in light of their output product, as detected by ‘reader-actuator’ mechanisms. Second, I suggest that the hierarchical organization of cell assemblies may be regarded as a neural syntax. Third, constituents of the neural syntax are linked together by dynamically changing constellations of synaptic weights (‘synapsembles’). Existing support for this tripartite framework is reviewed and strategies for experimental testing of its predictions are discussed.

Subfields: Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience, Cognitive Neuroscience

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/8544441fc25ec27e88a1b4ccc88272679652a19c

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Citations in the corpus

Noise as a Resource for Computation and Learning in Networks of Spiking Neurons (2014, background): “This additional result is of interest, because recent experimental data suggest that networks of neurons in the brain often go through certain stereotypical trajectories (or sequences) of simple network states [40], [41]; see also the discussion in [42].”
Automated long-term recording and analysis of neural activity in behaving animals (2016, background): “Group membership is not simply a consequence of units having similar motor tuning (Figure S7) (Ganguly and Carmena, 2009), nor is it consistent with synchronization of spiking activity, as in previously described ‘cell assemblies’ (Buzsáki, 2010; Harris, 2005; Hebb, 1949).”
A spike sorting toolbox for up to thousands of electrodes validated with ground truth recordings in vitro and in vivo (2018, background): “As local circuits represent information using large populations of neurons throughout the brain (Buzsáki, 2010), technologies to record hundreds or thousands of them are therefore essential.”
Gamma-band synchronization in the neocortex: novel analysis methods and their application to sensory and motivational systems (2013, background): “, 2010; Tiesinga & Sejnowski, 2010) and assembly formation (Singer, 1999; Buzsáki, 2010).”
The cortical dynamics of speaking: present shortcomings and future avenues (2016, background): “These could be responsible for secondorder language processes such as semantic and syntactic integration or timed articulation (e.g. Buzsáki, 2010; Pulvermuller, 1999, 2002; Pulvermuller et al., 2009; Pulvermuller & Garagnani, 2014; Strijkers et al., under review) (see Figure 3).”
Canonical microcircuits for predictive coding. (2012, positive): “This view has re-emerged in recent years, with the development of the requisite recording and analytic techniques for evaluating this proposal (Buzsáki, 2010; Canolty et al., 2010; Singer et al., 1997; Lopes-dos-Santos et al., 2011).”
The Theta-Gamma Neural Code (2013, positive): “As noted earlier, information formatting is a critical aspect of coding that allows downstream “receiver” networks to interpret the coded message (Buzsáki, 2010).”