美国加州理工学院Carlos Lois等研究人员合作实现大规模神经元扰动后复杂学习行为的无监督恢复。2024年4月29日，《自然—神经科学》杂志在线发表了这项成果。

研究人员发现，遗传扰乱HVC（参与鸣唱的脑区）中的大部分兴奋神经元会导致鸣唱严重退化。鸣唱在两周内完全恢复，即使在恢复期间阻止动物鸣唱，鸣唱也会有很大改善，这表明离线机制能以不受监督的方式使鸣唱恢复。歌声恢复的同时，同一脑区未受控制的邻近神经元的兴奋性突触输入也会增加。

受行为学和电生理学研究结果启发而建立的模型表明，无监督的单细胞和群体水平的同态可塑性规则，可以在实施序列动力学的网络被大规模破坏后支持功能恢复。这些观察结果表明，存在着确保行为恢复能力的细胞和系统级恢复机制。

据悉，精确行为的可靠执行需要大脑回路对神经元动态变化具有弹性。

附：英文原文

Title: Unsupervised restoration of a complex learned behavior after large-scale neuronal perturbation

Author: Wang, Bo, Torok, Zsofia, Duffy, Alison, Bell, David G., Wongso, Shelyn, Velho, Tarciso A. F., Fairhall, Adrienne L., Lois, Carlos

Issue&Volume: 2024-04-29

Abstract: Reliable execution of precise behaviors requires that brain circuits are resilient to variations in neuronal dynamics. Genetic perturbation of the majority of excitatory neurons in HVC, a brain region involved in song production, in adult songbirds with stereotypical songs triggered severe degradation of the song. The song fully recovered within 2weeks, and substantial improvement occurred even when animals were prevented from singing during the recovery period, indicating that offline mechanisms enable recovery in an unsupervised manner. Song restoration was accompanied by increased excitatory synaptic input to neighboring, unmanipulated neurons in the same brain region. A model inspired by the behavioral and electrophysiological findings suggests that unsupervised single-cell and population-level homeostatic plasticity rules can support the functional restoration after large-scale disruption of networks that implement sequential dynamics. These observations suggest the existence of cellular and systems-level restorative mechanisms that ensure behavioral resilience.

DOI: 10.1038/s41593-024-01630-6

Source: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41593-024-01630-6