Brain cells may predict future events during sleep, study reveals
A recent study from the University of Michigan suggests that neurons in the brain's memory center, may not only revisit past experiences during sleep. They could also predict future events, rehearsing activities yet to happen. The team analyzed brain wave readings from rats before, during, and after they completed maze challenges. "We addressed this challenge by relating the activity of each individual neuron to the activity of all the other neurons," said anesthesiologist Kamran Diba, a member of the study.
Machine learning assists in understanding neuron activity
The team used a machine learning process to assess relationships between neurons, linking physical spaces in the maze with specific neuron activity. This approach allowed them to map neuron activity to points in the maze while the rats were sleeping. Diba stated that based on neuron activity during sleep and subsequent maze attempts, it was found that rats were not only dreaming about places they'd previously visited but also planning potential new routes.
Sleep influences future exploration patterns
The study's findings have significant implications for understanding spatial tuning — how specific neuron activity relates to specific places. The researchers found that this tuning is a dynamic process involving the sleeping brain. When rats were reintroduced to the maze after sleeping, their neural activity during sleep somewhat predicted their new exploration patterns. "We can validate that these changes really do reflect something that was learned while the animals were asleep," said neuroscientist Caleb Kemere from Rice University in US.
It may serve as rehearsal for future events
While the study focused on rats, similar processes are likely to occur in human brains, suggesting a kind of rehearsal for future events during sleep. "It's not necessarily the case that during sleep the only thing these neurons do is to stabilize a memory of the experience," Kemere added. "It turns out some neurons end up doing something else." The research has been published in Nature.
