Each colored dot in this image represents a neuron that is firing during the decision-making process (picture detail). Image Credit: Daniel Birman/International Brain Laboratory
Technology USAWe Now Know How Decisions Light Up the Brain
Scientists have just revealed the most comprehensive brain-activity map yet, showing how decisions unfold across nearly the entire brain, a breakthrough for neuroscience and our understanding of thought.
“They have created the largest dataset anyone has ever imagined at this scale,” said Dr Paul W. Glimcher, chair of neuroscience and physiology at New York University’s Grossman School of Medicine.
In the study, researchers from 22 labs tracked signals from over 600,000 neurons in 139 mice across 279 brain regions, encompassing approximately 95% of the mouse brain. They mapped how information moves from visual areas to regions involved in decision-making, movement, and reward. When stimuli are faint, the brain also leans on past experience, activating memory and expectation areas early. Because the dataset is publicly available, scientists worldwide can now utilise it to study disorders of decision-making and develop more effective brain-machine interfaces.
