Mutual generation in neuronal activity across the brain via deep neural approach, and its network interpretation

Abstract

In the brain, many regions work in a network-like association, yet it is not known how durable these associations are in terms of activity and could survive without structural connections. To assess the association or similarity between brain regions with a generating approach, this study evaluated the similarity of activities of neurons within each region after disconnecting between regions. The "generation" approach here refers to using a multi-layer LSTM (Long Short-Term Memory) model to learn the rules of activity generation in one region and then apply that knowledge to generate activity in other regions. Surprisingly, the results revealed that activity generation from one region to disconnected regions was possible with similar accuracy to generation between the same regions in many cases. Notably, firing rates and synchronization of firing between neuron pairs, often used as neuronal representations, could be reproduced with precision. Additionally, accuracies were associated with the relative angle between brain regions and the strength of the structural connections that initially connected them. This outcome enables us to look into trends governing non-uniformity of the cortex based on the potential to generate informative data and reduces the need for animal experiments.