Chinese scientists have found evidence that individual neurons can act like powerful minicomputers that enable flexible behaviour such as making decisions.
Scientists do not have a complete understanding of how our brains adapt to changing contexts to respond appropriately to sensory information.
But by studying mice, the team obtained the first experimental evidence that dendrites – branchlike structures attached to neurons – can integrate learned rules with incoming sensory inputs to drive flexible choices.
These new insights into the cognitive process could also help in the design of more adaptable and efficient AI systems modelled on the human brain, the researchers said.