Data from: Low-dimensional spatio-temporal dynamics underlie cortex-wide neural activity

Cognition arises from the dynamic flow of neural activity through the brain. To capture these dynamics, we used mesoscale calcium imaging to record neural activity across the dorsal cortex of awake mice. We found that the large majority of variance in cortex-wide activity (~75%) could be explained by a limited set of ~14 ‘motifs’ of neural activity. Each motif captured a unique spatio-temporal pattern of neural activity across the cortex. These motifs generalized across animals and were seen in multiple behavioral environments. Motif expression differed across behavioral states and specific motifs were engaged by sensory processing, suggesting the motifs reflect core cortical computations. Together, our results show that cortex-wide neural activity is highly dynamic, but that these dynamics are restricted to a low-dimensional set of motifs, potentially allowing for efficient control of behavior.认知源自神经活动在大脑内的动态流动。为捕捉此类神经动态，我们采用中尺度钙成像（mesoscale calcium imaging）技术，记录清醒小鼠背侧皮层的神经活动。我们发现，全皮层神经活动中绝大多数的方差（约75%）可由有限的约14种神经活动基序（motifs）解释。每一种基序均能表征全皮层范围内独特的神经活动时空模式。此类基序可跨个体泛化，且在多种行为环境中均能观测到。基序的表达水平随行为状态不同而存在差异，且特定基序会参与感觉信息处理过程，这表明基序可反映皮层的核心计算机制。综上，本研究结果表明，全皮层神经活动具有高度动态性，但此类动态仅局限于低维的基序集合中，或可为行为的高效调控提供潜在可能。