{"id":33332,"date":"2017-01-10T01:44:48","date_gmt":"2017-01-10T09:44:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/2017\/01\/model-sheds-light-on-inhibitory-neurons-computational-role"},"modified":"2017-01-10T01:44:48","modified_gmt":"2017-01-10T09:44:48","slug":"model-sheds-light-on-inhibitory-neurons-computational-role","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/2017\/01\/model-sheds-light-on-inhibitory-neurons-computational-role","title":{"rendered":"Model sheds light on inhibitory neurons\u2019 computational role"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Researchers at MIT\u2019s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory have developed a new computational model of a neural circuit in the brain, which could shed light on the biological role of inhibitory neurons \u2014 neurons that keep other neurons from firing.<\/p>\n<p>The model describes a neural circuit consisting of an array of input neurons and an equivalent number of output neurons. The circuit performs what neuroscientists call a \u201cwinner-take-all\u201d operation, in which signals from multiple input neurons induce a signal in just one output neuron.<\/p>\n<p>Using the tools of theoretical computer science, the researchers prove that, within the context of their model, a certain configuration of inhibitory neurons provides the most efficient means of enacting a winner-take-all operation. Because the model makes empirical predictions about the behavior of inhibitory neurons in the brain, it offers a good example of the way in which computational analysis could aid neuroscience.<\/p>\n<p><!-- Link: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurekalert.org\/pub_releases\/2017-01\/miot-msl010917.php#.WHP80yyDFkU.facebook\">https:\/\/www.eurekalert.org\/pub_releases\/2017&#45;01\/miot-msl...U.facebook<\/a> --><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Researchers at MIT\u2019s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory have developed a new computational model of a neural circuit in the brain, which could shed light on the biological role of inhibitory neurons \u2014 neurons that keep other neurons from firing. The model describes a neural circuit consisting of an array of input neurons and [\u2026]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":395,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,47,6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-33332","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-biological","category-neuroscience","category-robotics-ai"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33332","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/395"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33332"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33332\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33332"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33332"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33332"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}