קידוד נוירונלי במצבי מוח משתנים

Join us to solve one of the oldest enigmas in neuroscience: what is the function of brain states and how these states evolved. In this project we will utilize the simpler and highly structured state organization in Pogona Vitticeps, to expose the full repertoire of brain states in a naturally behaving animal. We will take advantage of the limited diversity of motor movements in Pogona, to expose the link between population patterns and defined behaviors. We will furthermore exploit the unique evolutionary positions of reptiles as closest to stem amniotes, in which the layered cortex and hippocampus first emerged, to reveal the forces that pushed the emergence of brain states in evolution. Finally, through a comparative analysis of brain state properties between different lizards and mammals we will extract the fundamental properties and functions of brain states and the network that supports them.