Imaging whole-brain activity to understand behavior

Area of Science:

• Systems Neuroscience
• Computational Neuroscience
• Neuroethology

Background:

• The brain's evolution is geared towards producing natural behaviors, involving complex sensory processing, decision-making, and motor control.
• Traditional studies often focus on limited neural circuits, hindering the understanding of integrated brain activity during natural behaviors.
• Natural behaviors dynamically shape sensory experiences and involve intricate feedback pathways crucial for guiding actions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review experimental and theoretical methods for understanding whole-brain activity during natural behaviors.
• To highlight the opportunities for physics to contribute to systems neuroscience.
• To bridge the gap between neural dynamics and behavioral dynamics.

Main Methods:

• Whole-brain recording with cellular resolution in small behaving animals (nematodes, flies, zebrafish).
• Analysis of neural activity spanning sensory, decision-making, and motor circuits.
• Development of theoretical approaches integrating brain and behavioral dynamics.

Main Results:

• Recent technological advancements enable comprehensive, cellular-resolution whole-brain recordings in freely moving animals.
• Whole-brain activity is intrinsically linked and contingent upon the animal's behavior and sensory interactions.
• Studying natural behaviors requires integrating diverse neural circuits and brain regions.

Conclusions:

• Whole-brain recording offers unprecedented opportunities to dissect the neural basis of complex, natural behaviors.
• New theoretical frameworks are needed to analyze the interplay between neural and behavioral dynamics.
• Interdisciplinary approaches, including physics, are essential for advancing systems neuroscience.