How distributed is the brain-wide network that is recruited for cognition?

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Cognitive Science
• Computational Neuroscience

Background:

• Historically, neurophysiology favored a 'localized' brain function view, attributing complex behaviors to specialized brain regions.
• Recent high-throughput neuronal recordings in rodents suggest a more distributed model of neural encoding, termed 'everything, everywhere, all at once'.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate whether localized or distributed models better explain cognition, defined as the manipulation of internal variables for flexible behavior.
• To investigate the extent and distribution of cognitive variable representation across the brain in rodents and primates.

Main Methods:

• Review of neurophysiological recording techniques and data analysis from rodent and primate studies.
• Comparative analysis of localized versus distributed encoding paradigms for cognitive functions.

Main Results:

• Cognitive variables are represented broadly across the brain, not strictly localized to specific areas.
• Unexpectedly significant cognitive signal presence was found in brain regions involved in motor control.

Conclusions:

• The brain's cognitive processing appears to be more distributed than previously thought, challenging the strictly localized model.
• Understanding the recruitment of brain-wide networks for cognition requires considering factors influencing signal breadth and the role of motor control regions.