Figure 2

The Brainet can synchronize neural activity.

A) The different colors indicate the different manipulations used to study synchronization across the network. During the pre-session, rats were tested for periods of spurious neural synchronization. No ICMS or rewards were delivered here. During sessions, rats were tested for increased neural synchronization due to detection of the ICMS stimulus (red period). Successful synchronization was rewarded with water. During the post session, rats were tested for periods of neural synchronization due to the effects of reward (e.g. continuous whisking/licking). Successful synchronization was rewarded with water, but no ICMS stimulus was delivered. B) Example of neuronal activity across the Brainet. After the ICMS there was a general tendency for neural activity to increase. Periods of maximum firing rate are represented in red. C) The performance of the Brainet during sessions was above the pre-sessions and post-sessions. Also, delivery of ICMS alone or during anesthetized states also resulted in poor performances. ** and *** indicate P < 0.01 and P < 0.0001 respectively. D) Overall changes in R values in early and late sessions show that improvements in performances were accompanied by specific changes in the periods of synchronized activity. E) Example of a synchronization trial. The lower panels show, in red, the neural activity of each rat and, in blue, the average of neural activity for the remaining of the Brainet. The upper panels depict the R value for the correlation coefficient between each rat and the remaining of the Brainet. There was an overall tendency for the Brainet to correlate in the beginning of the test period.