Research Achievements of Korea Brain Research Institute-Johns Hopkins Medical School International Joint Research Team
Identification of Neurotransmitter Receptors and Mechanisms Regulating Direction-Position Selectivity
Potential Contribution to AI Network Architecture and Learning Algorithm Design
Patients with mental illnesses such as schizophrenia, which cause hallucinations and delusions, perceive sensory information like auditory or visual signals in a distorted manner. A joint research team from Korea and the United States has discovered the fundamental principles of neurons that can unlock the secret behind this phenomenon. This is also expected to contribute to artificial intelligence (AI) research.
An international collaborative research team from the Korea Brain Research Institute and Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine revealed the reason why each neuron in the brain has different direction-position specificity, publishing their findings in the October 2 issue of the world-renowned journal Nature. The team included Dr. Inki Hong and Professor Richard Huganir from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, as well as Senior Researcher Juhyun Kim from the Korea Brain Research Institute’s Emotion and Cognitive Disorders Research Group.
This research identified the principles by which individual cells regulate feature selectivity and the key molecules involved, expanding the understanding of these diseases at the algorithmic level and providing molecular targets that lay the groundwork for treatment and improvement. The process by which neurons in the brain recognize and process sensory information from the outside varies by cell type, and this study found one of the main causes, marking a significant advancement in understanding the sensory perception system of animals.
The tendency of neurons in the brain to respond strongly to specific stimuli is called ‘feature selectivity.’ For example, a neuron might respond sensitively only to a particular stimulus like ‘my grandfather’s mustache,’ because the cerebral cortex processes sensory information differently depending on the type of brain cell. The cognitive distortions of sensory information seen in mental illnesses such as autism and schizophrenia can also be understood as issues of feature selectivity.
Feature selectivity is a common phenomenon observed in neurons or units of neural networks in the brain. It refers to selective responses to specific external stimuli and forms the core foundation of all intelligence. Until now, it remained a significant challenge to explain why inhibitory neurons in the brain show lower direction-position selectivity compared to excitatory neurons. The research team conducted a study to uncover the cause of the presence or absence of direction specificity in excitatory neurons and PV inhibitory neurons.
Co-corresponding authors Dr. Inki Hong and Professor Richard Huganir from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine stated, “The cognitive distortions of sensory information observed in mental illnesses such as autism, schizophrenia, and epilepsy can also be understood as problems of feature selectivity,” adding, “By uncovering these principles, we can deepen our understanding of intelligence and identify drug treatment targets for these diseases.”
Dr. Juhyun Kim from the Korea Brain Research Institute also said, “This study revealed the mechanisms by which excitatory and inhibitory neurons differently process visual information such as ‘direction’ and spatial recognition information such as ‘position,’” and added, “By elucidating how our brain regulates direction-position selectivity, this research will not only enhance our understanding of sensory information processing in the brain but also aid in designing new AI network architectures and learning algorithms.”
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