Natural behavior is the language of the brain

Cory T Miller; David Gire; Kim Hoke; Alexander C Huk; Darcy Kelley; David A Leopold; Matthew C Smear; Frederic Theunissen; Michael Yartsev; Cristopher M Niell

doi:10.1016/j.cub.2022.03.031

Natural behavior is the language of the brain

Curr Biol. 2022 May 23;32(10):R482-R493. doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2022.03.031.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Cortical Systems and Behavior Laboratory, University of California San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, CA 92039, USA. Electronic address: corymiller@ucsd.edu.
² Department of Psychology, University of Washington, Guthrie Hall, Seattle, WA 98105, USA.
³ Department of Biology, Colorado State University, 1878 Campus Delivery, Fort Collins, CO 80523, USA.
⁴ Center for Perceptual Systems, Departments of Neuroscience and Psychology, University of Texas at Austin, 116 Inner Campus Drive, Austin, TX 78712, USA.
⁵ Department of Biological Sciences, Columbia University, 1212 Amsterdam Avenue, New York, NY 10027, USA.
⁶ Section of Cognitive Neurophysiology and Imaging, National Institute of Mental Health, 49 Convent Drive, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA.
⁷ Department of Psychology and Institute of Neuroscience, University of Oregon, 1227 University Street, Eugene, OR 97403, USA.
⁸ Department of Psychology, University of California Berkeley, 2121 Berkeley Way, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA.
⁹ Department of Bioengineering, University of California Berkeley, 306 Stanley Hall, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA.
¹⁰ Department of Biology and Institute of Neuroscience, University of Oregon, 222 Huestis Hall, Eugene, OR 97403, USA. Electronic address: cniell@uoregon.edu.

Abstract

The breadth and complexity of natural behaviors inspires awe. Understanding how our perceptions, actions, and internal thoughts arise from evolved circuits in the brain has motivated neuroscientists for generations. Researchers have traditionally approached this question by focusing on stereotyped behaviors, either natural or trained, in a limited number of model species. This approach has allowed for the isolation and systematic study of specific brain operations, which has greatly advanced our understanding of the circuits involved. At the same time, the emphasis on experimental reductionism has left most aspects of the natural behaviors that have shaped the evolution of the brain largely unexplored. However, emerging technologies and analytical tools make it possible to comprehensively link natural behaviors to neural activity across a broad range of ethological contexts and timescales, heralding new modes of neuroscience focused on natural behaviors. Here we describe a three-part roadmap that aims to leverage the wealth of behaviors in their naturally occurring distributions, linking their variance with that of underlying neural processes to understand how the brain is able to successfully navigate the everyday challenges of animals' social and ecological landscapes. To achieve this aim, experimenters must harness one challenge faced by all neurobiological systems, namely variability, in order to gain new insights into the language of the brain.

Natural behavior is the language of the brain

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Abstract

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