A new study shows that the cerebral cortex predicts the future by detecting novel stimuli and forming short-term memory traces called “echoes.” This mechanism, confirmed through neural network modeling, plays a key role in perception and learning.
The cerebral cortex is the largest part of a mammal’s brain and plays a crucial role in various cognitive functions. In humans, it is responsible for perception, thought, memory storage, and decision-making. One hypothesis suggests that the cortex’s primary function is to predict future events by processing new sensory information and comparing it to prior expectations.
A newly published study in Neuron provides significant evidence supporting this hypothesis. The research, led by Yuriy Shymkiv, a postdoctoral fellow in Professor Rafael Yuste’s lab, marks a major step forward in understanding the predictive role of the cortex.
