Researchers from Johns Hopkins Medicine have made a fascinating discovery about a brain molecule that can influence the selectivity of certain neurons. This new understanding could greatly contribute to our knowledge of human cognition and provide insights into conditions like schizophrenia, epilepsy, and autism. The study, published in the prestigious journal Nature, sheds light on how the calcium permeable (CP)-AMPA receptor shapes the way neurons respond to external cues, potentially impacting the way we process information and form memories.
Unraveling the Mysteries of Neuron Specialization
The main discovery is the involvement of the CP-AMPA receptor in reversal of Parvalbumin (PV) neuron selective suppression by Weber-netrin. Inhibition is carried out by inhibitory neurons in the vicinity that can be more or less selective about which other neurons to inhibit and this selectivity has important implications for how we perceive and react to sensory inputs.
This high concentration of CP-AMPA receptors in PV neurons functions as a ‘gate’ which ultimately reduces their specificity, the study found. In effect, these neurons become less selective for particular cues: neurons that register the unique aspects of a face or the particular details of an environment. Instead, it detects and responds to a more generalized array of stimuli, producing broader inhibition within the neural network.
All this does matter for the following questions we will discuss when it comes to understanding human cognition:
Professor Kikkawa commented that the results provide a starting point for further research into human cognitive science and the mechanisms responsible for neurological and psychiatric diseases. Through understanding the way in which the CP-AMPA receptor influences PV neuron function, this can provide important clues as to how our brains operate, and ultimately perceive things like memory and decision-making.
All of this means that the de-bottlenecking and slower responses to external cues in principal neurons are preserved, but downstream neurons have more tittering information available to inform their dynamics -which could potentially influence how we explain particular circuit pathologies connected with a loss of selectivity in for example PV neurons: Schizophrenia, epilepsy or autism. They showed that mutations in the GluA2 subunit of the AMPA receptor, which determine its calcium-permeability properties, cause intellectual disabilities with associated features of autism in humans and are associated with abnormally high cognitive performance in mice.
Personalizing Neurocomputational Therapeutics
The research team is excited about the prospect of utilizing this finding, especially within neurocomputational therapeutics. The identification of molecules and processes that lead to biased computing in neurons could help researchers develop personalized drugs, or provide other types of interventions that address root causes of psychiatric diseases.
This could also have ramifications for the machine learning and artificial intelligence community, according to the researchers. This research may open up new avenues in the design of artificial intelligence systems that are more sophisticated and self-organizing, because tools to harness the balance of selective versus less selective neurons could contribute to efficient and stable neural networks.
