The cell assembly hypothesis postulates that information processing in the brain entails the repetitive co-activation of groups of neurons [1]. The activation of such assemblies would lead to spatio-temporal spike patterns (STPs) at the resolution of a few milliseconds. In order to test the cell assembly hypothesis, we searched for significant STPs in parallel spike trains, using the SPADE method [2,3]. We analyzed experimental data from the motor cortex (M1/PMd) of macaque monkeys (Macaca mulatta) performing a reach-to-grasp task [4] and found an abundance of STPs. Quantitative analysis showed that STPs are functionally related to behavior, which suggests the presence of assemblies activated during the task.

References:
[1] Hebb, D. O. (1949). John Wiley & Sons
[2] Stella et al. (2019). Biosystems, 185, 104022. [doi: 10.1016/j.biosystems.2019.104022]
[3] Stella et al. (2022). eNeuro [doi: 10.1523/ENEURO.0505-21.2022]
[4] Brochier et al. (2018). Scientific data 5.1: 1-23. [doi: 10.12751/g-node.f83565]

Note: This is one of two talks in this seminar. The other talk is by Aitor Morales-Gregorio.

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