Lecture 19

Review for Midterm 2

Prof. André Fenton (afenton@nyu.edu)

Dr. Darryl Watkins dw3083@nyu.edu

Alisha Ahmed aaa9861@nyu.edu
Luke Arend laa9607@nyu.edu
The brain is the most complex known system in the universe

Complex systems have EMERGENT properties and operate

on many scales AT THE SAME TIME

(think of a weather storm: how is rain (water droplets) related

to a storm?
 1) A larger diameter reduces resistance to the flow of ions
inside the axon, allowing the action potential to travel faster.
Why 1) larger axon diameter
2) more myelin structure
both result in faster AP conduction because RESISTANCE
to flow decreases

2) Myelin, a fatty layer that wraps around the axon,

increases conduction speed by insulating the axon and
enabling saltatory conduction. In saltatory
conduction, the action potential jumps from one
Node(gaps) to the next, skipping myelinated segments
, speeding up signal transmission significantly.
we care about the transduction from outside to inside:
arrangement of protein, amino acid coded into our DNA, specific preteins are specialized for different purposes to be
released to transmit information

The doctrine/law of specific nerve energies says:

Receptors and neural channels for different

senses are independent.
Each sense uses a different “nerve energy.”

heat pressure light

Presynaptic cell Presynaptic cell Presynaptic cell

info info info

} synapse } synapse } synapse

Postsynaptic cell Postsynaptic cell Postsynaptic cell
 All senses use the same type of energy—
action and synaptic potentials.

The concept of labeled lines says that the

brain recognizes distinct senses because
action potentials travel along separate nerve
tracts.
Presynaptic cell Presynaptic cell Presynaptic cell

heat info pressure info light info

} synapse } synapse } synapse

Postsynaptic cell Postsynaptic cell Postsynaptic cell
 nerve system has a lot of topology, meaning closer things are more related, further apart things are less related.

Levels of Sensory Processing the hearing receptive

field instead of being
topological mapping, is
frequency space. They
are similar.

the primary sensory cortex

receives and interprets sensory
signals. It interacts with
nonprimary sensory cortical
areas

The sensory information is then

CNS: central sent to the thalamus, which acts
nervous as a central relay station.
system

Sensory receptors (in peripheral

and cranial nerves) detect stimuli
and send signals to
the CNS.
 Receptor Cell – a specialized cell
that responds to a particular
external or internal energy or
substance by sensory transduction
Receptor
Receptor cell Presynapticpotentials
cell
Sensory transduction - the
conversion of presence or energy info

from a stimulus into a change in

membrane potential in a receptor } synapse
cell Postsynaptic cell
generator potentials: it is generated -> big enough to cause release of synaptic
nerotransmiters
Receptor potentials (or generator
potentials) are local changes in
membrane potential.
i.e. a type of local graded potential
(but not a PSP)
Pacinian
Corpuscle

Sensory neuron
 How the Pacinian corpuscle signals vibration

Stimulus intensity corresponds to receptor/generator potential AMPLITUDE

it is a counterexample of how K+ be used to keep concentration stable by moving outward, it moves inward due to a
high concentration outside the membrane -> depolarize the membrane due to a more positive ions moving inward
Hair cells, local potentials, and afferent nerves

Notice that K+ is depolarizing!!

How?
 the neurons can only change their firing rates: 10-20 action potentials per second max: they
cannpt fire that fast over a long time

1,000,000 x larger

Receptor
cell
Receptor Receptor
Presynapticpotentials
cell Presynapticpotentials
cell

info info

} synapse } synapse
Postsynaptic cell Postsynaptic cell
range fractioning
Intensity coding
Combined response of the neurons
Intensity coding
 What is Sensory Adaptation?

the nervous system cannot respond constantly

Receptive Fields
What part of the knowable world
(where and what)
Center-Surround (antagonistic) organization of receptive fields
Receptive Fields of Retinal Cells – type 1
Circular receptive fields can combine to produce rod-shaped
receptive fields

A simple cell

A complex cell
Topography in the
Nervous System
Somatosensory Pathways and Dermatomes are
Mapped orderly
Representation of the Body Surface in Somatosensory Cortex
How pain gets to the brain… the ascending pathway
Example tuning curves of single auditory nerve fibers
Tonotopic mapping throughout the auditory pathway
Neural Computation
(neural logic)
The Reflex - A Simple neuronal circuit

dorsal

ventral
Brightness is
created by the
visual system

Edward H. Adelson
Signal processing by the secondary sensory neuron bipolar
cells

Ionotropic
Metabotropic GluR
GluR
 Lateral Inhibition in the Retina

Similar
mechanism for
touch
Muscle control
Movement …
Lateral inhibition explains center-surround receptive fields
Receptive Fields of Retinal Cells – type 2
Neural
ÿ ÿ Population
Representations
ÿ ÿ
REST

ÿ ÿ ÿ •ÿ direÿ ction of the

ÿ ÿendoÿ lympÿ hÿ force ÿiÿs
ÿoppoÿ site to ÿ the ÿ
ÿhead rotaÿ ti ÿon ÿ

• bilateral pattern of
ROTATION activity represents
the stimulus

• polarity of hair
cells causes total
output of system to
remain relatively
constant
 + - + -
(III)

The vestibulo- (VI)

ocular reflex

endolymph endolymph

cupula cupula

Compensates for
VIII VIII
head movements to
stabilize the gaze
 M1 neuron activity - a population (pattern) code for movements
a traceable small change can lead to a
huge consequence

2&3: M1 neurons do not fire equally for all movement directions. Since individual neurons are tuned to specific
directions, a population of M1 neurons together creates a pattern of activity that encodes the intended movement
direction. The collective activity of many neurons allows the brain to determine the exact direction and trajectory of the
movement.
 primary motor cortex (M1)
What does activity of M1 neurons represent?
~1/3 muscle activation
~2/3 movement per se (e.g. writing your name)
**the goal/direction of movements matters more (movement in space) thus much more flexible you can have
different ways to achieve the same movements**
there are three loops
happening between
thalamus and primary
sensory cortical areas: the
importance is that the
filtering happens in these
loops will make some
signals emerge and some
suppressed
While M1 neurons are responsible for voluntary movements, mirror neurons(e.g. F5 in ventral premotor cortex) is for
understanding the observed behaviors of self and others, mainly for motor planning

Mirror neurons are unique because they fire both when the
monkey performs an action (e.g., picking up food) and when
it observes another individual performing the same action.

This mirroring response suggests that these neurons play a role in understanding
actions, imitation, and potentially empathy, help the monkey (humans) understand
and learn from the actions of others.
 Mirror Neurons

Top Panel (Grasping with Purpose): When the action involves grasping an object with a clear purpose (e.g., picking up a block)
, the mirror neurons become highly active. This suggests that these neurons respond not only to the movement but also to the
intention behind the action.

In contrast, when a similar grasping movement occurs without an object or clear goal, the mirror neuron activity is
significantly reduced. This indicates that mirror neurons are more responsive to actions with meaningful context,
particularly when there is an observable intention.