The human brain has the extraordinary ability to rapidly discern a stranger from someone familiar, even as it can simultaneously remember details about someone across decades of encounters. Now, in mouse studies, scientists at Columbia’s Zuckerman Institute have revealed how the brain elegantly performs both tasks.
“These findings are the first evidence that a single population of neurons can use different codes to represent novel and familiar individuals,” said co-corresponding author Stefano Fusi, PhD, professor of neuroscience at Columbia’s Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, a principal investigator at Columbia’s Zuckerman Institute and a member of Columbia’s Center for Theoretical Neuroscience.
In a paper published today in Neuron, Columbia scientists explored social memory, the ability to remember encounters with others. This form of memory consists of two distinct…
