The first map of neural connections in the larval brain opens the door to computational models of artificial intelligence

• Interview Rafael Yuste "Neurotechnology will allow us to decipher thoughts and alter them"

Knowing the paths that ideas and thoughts take in the brain is a challenge for Medicine and Science.

A great step has been taken in this adventure of unraveling the mysteries that are hidden in the control panel of living beings.

This Thursday the journal Science has reported on the progress of a group of researchers, led by Professor Marta Zlatic and Professor Albert Cardona from the Laboratory of Molecular Biology of the Medical Research Council and the University of Cambridge and colleagues from the United Kingdom and the USA:

As small a step as it may seem,

.

Cardona, in statements to EL MUNDO, explains that "we can compare the connectome [the connection diagram] of the fly larva with that of other organisms, to study the relationship between the structure of the circuit and the capacities that each has. or the other. And with that, we get an idea of ​​how neural circuits work in general."

If we put everything in context, it is about "performing a kind of reverse engineering", explains Olivia Belbín, head of the Molecular Neurodegeneration research group at the Santa Creu i Sant Pau Hospital Research Institute.

"That is, we learn to use a calculator so that we can then do it with a supercomputer."

The translation of the magnitudes is due to the fact that

, "more stars than there are in the Milky Way", explains Álex Bayés, director of the Synapse Molecular Physiology Research Group at the Research Institute of the same center.

"The magnitude of what they present is that until now they had never seen all the connections at once," Bayés emphasizes.

In this sense, Cardona comments that "the structure of the circuit is interesting in itself".

This happens because the system is complex.

"We have observed some patterns of connections called "skip connections", where the neurons not only connect to the neurons of the next layer, but also to the next. And we also detected recurring connections, which are loops, that is, a neuron connects not only to the following neurons but also to the previous ones, that is, the ones that were connected to it Both characteristics, the "skip

, are properties that, in the field of circuit computing neural,

."

Diagram of neural connections.Benjamin Pedigo

In a pedagogical way, the Cambridge professor explains the process.

"An example is how an animal receives visual (through the eyes) and olfactory (through the nose) information that, together with the internal sensation of hunger, and the memory of having encountered that smell before and having associated it with nutritious food, lead it to to decide to take the path to food.Where these memories are formed and stored depends on whether the olfactory and nutritional information are in a place where the weights of the connections can be altered to establish the memory.In the connectome, the we can do".

Belbín emphasizes the findings in the learning zone.

"In what they call the 'learning center', there are many canonical connections that we all know about, but they also show that

, a lot of interconnectivity in that area. An area of ​​the brain that controls very complex processes".

The researcher believes that in the future here they will be able to find useful clues in dementia processes, such as Alzheimer's.

This means a new door for new key research in the field of Neurosciences

.

José Porta-Etessam, vice president of the Spanish Society of Neurology (SEN), defends that "we may see the consequences in 10-15 years, but we need a starting point."

And he recalls that "these investigations already began with Erik Candel, Nobel Prize, with the first synapses in a snail."

Porta-Etessam also alludes to the translation it may have in the field of computational models, "specifically with the Blue Brain project."

Here, Rafael Yuste, professor of Biological Sciences and director of the Center for Neurotechnology at Columbia University (New York), president of the NeuroRights Foundation and promoter of the BRAIN project, does not hesitate to highlight the progress.

"The work seems spectacular to me. It is rigorous and of good quality. It is a study that is included within connectomics

a new neurotechnology to

. This began with the pioneering work and White's near-heroic work in Brenner's Cambridge laboratory, in an article jokingly called

, precisely when I was working there, and now it has become an almost industrial process, with the involvement of large groups of biologists, microscopists, engineers and even large technology companies, with inexorable progress towards the brains of increasingly complex species. ", says Yuste, in statements to SMC.

Brain simulation.Michael Winding

Cardona points out the possible directions that can be taken from now on.

"There are many steps that could be considered the next one. The closest one is perhaps to repeat the experiment: mapping the connectome of several individuals and comparing them, to study the neurological basis of

. With advances in technology, what took us years to do can now be repeated in a matter of months, so it's very doable. In fact, we're already doing it in the lab."

Regarding the technological advances that have made this possible, Yuste does not hesitate to emphasize the complexity.

"It is very difficult to carry out these studies, huge teams are needed, with a lot of investment of time and work. That is why it is important to coordinate funding and efforts at the national and international level in neurotechnology. Mapping the mouse connectome is being studied in a collaboration worldwide. These methods are also beginning to be used in the human brain, but in a still incipient manner."

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