Theoretical principles for illuminating sensorimotor processing with brain-wide neuronal recordings.

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Computational Neuroscience
• Systems Neuroscience

Background:

• Modern neuroscience techniques allow observation of brain-wide sensorimotor circuits at single neuron resolution in small animals.
• Extracting theoretical understanding from these complex neural recordings necessitates organizing principles.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review theoretical principles that illuminate brain-wide sensorimotor processing.
• To provide a framework for organizing findings and guiding future experiments in neuroscience.

Main Methods:

• The review uses an analogy of streetlamps to conceptualize theoretical principles.
• It illustrates how familiar principles apply to brain-wide phenomena.
• It describes three additional principles for mapping neural activity, creating model predictions, and investigating computational determinants of neuronal responses.

Main Results:

• The review highlights the utility of theoretical principles in making sense of large-scale neural data.
• It demonstrates how these principles can bridge empirical observations with mechanistic models.
• It offers a structured approach to understanding neuronal computations across the entire brain.

Conclusions:

• Theoretical principles are essential for advancing our understanding of brain-wide sensorimotor systems.
• The presented principles offer practical tools for neuroscientists to analyze neural data and formulate hypotheses.
• This work facilitates the investigation of computational determinants underlying neural activity patterns.