Brain Multitasking Mechanism

Recently, researchers from the York University's Langone Medical Center said they found a shell region in the center of the mammalian brain which may be related to the ability to deal with multiple tasks. This area is called the thalamic reticular nucleus (TRN). The neurons in the TRN region are like the "console" to filter the nerve to switch the attention of the brain to one of the senses, such as the vision, and shield the information to divert attention transmitted from other senses.

The results are published in the international academic journal Nature.

In this study, the researchers developed a new behavioral experiment, in which transgenic mice were recorded to observe the electrical signals of TRN neurons, to observe the behavior of mice, and laser was to inhibit the neural circuits of different regions of the brain. The results showed that when animal models of disease were focused on a visual flash signal, the activity of TRN neurons was decreased, which was consistent with the results of TRN neurons in the inhibition of human brain signal.

In contrast, the researchers said that when the mice were guided to focus on the sound and the neglect of the flash signal, the visual TRN neurons would be more active and inhibit the visual signal, making the brain's attention focused more on the sound. Early studies had shown that different TRN neurons had their own specific gene expression.

“The latest research shows how the brain works on a specific task. The brain takes the neurons of the TRN area as the "console" to control the information amount that is received by the brain, which limits and filters the information we don't want to focus on.” the researchers said. What's more, they will continue study how much information to shield from the TRN neurons in the "not relevant" information and what kind of changes are further found in the disease models.

Copyright © 2015 creative animodel blog. All rights reserved.

http://www.creative-animodel.com/blog/index.php/2015/10/25/brain-multitasking-mechanism/