New understanding: This is how our brain specifically filters information!

New understanding: This is how our brain specifically filters information!

Researchers at the University of Bremen have made significant progress in brain research, providing deeper insights into how the human brain processes information. This discovery could have far-reaching implications for understanding neurological diseases such as Alzheimer's and ADHD. In particular, the researchers show that the time at which a signal hits nerve cells is crucial for how information is processed uni-bremen.de reported.

In their study, the scientists led by Andreas Kreiter and Eric Drebitz demonstrated that our brain specifically processes information when it arrives at specific times, namely during short phases of high nerve cell activity. This phenomenon is often described as the cocktail party effect, where the brain is able to focus on a single voice in a noisy environment. However, until now it was unclear how the brain selects and processes relevant information. By studying the selective conduction of stimuli in rhesus monkeys, the researchers were able to achieve insightful results.

Information processing mechanisms

A key finding of the study is that the transmission of information in the brain depends on timing. Neurons exhibit activity that alternates in cycles of 10 to 20 milliseconds, with periods of increased and decreased receptivity. A signal must arrive exactly shortly before the peak of the active phase in order to have a decisive influence on the behavior of the neurons, emphasizes Dr. Eric Drebitz in t-online.de. As part of their experiments, the team found that artificial signals only influenced the activity of the nerve cells if they were placed in the right time window - however, incorrect times led to disruptions in task processing.

These findings open new perspectives on the mechanisms that control selectivity in information processing. The study, which was published in the renowned journal “Nature Communications”, not only offers fundamental insights into how the brain works, but also valuable impulses for the development of more precise models for the diagnosis and treatment of neurological diseases.

Relevance to medicine and technology

The results of the research work are of considerable importance for medicine. They could help to better understand the problems of selective processing and information storage in diseases such as Alzheimer's and ADHD. With an improved understanding of the neuronal mechanisms, new approaches for the treatment of these diseases can be developed. In addition, the findings have the potential to advance the development of brain-computer interfaces and artificial intelligence by helping to understand the interactions in the brain more precisely.

The ongoing research projects at the Ernst Strüngmann Institute deal intensively with questions about the selectivity of synchronization processes and the functional hierarchy of brain areas. With novel recording techniques that offer higher spatial resolution, the aim is to understand the activity of nerve cells even better mpg.de sketched.