Building the neurobehavioral bridge: blueprint for how brain orchestrates naturalistic behavior

Eric Yttri, CMU

Abstract:
Interacting with the world around you requires a complex set of decisions that select from a wide array of behaviors. However, the rich diversity of these behaviors has all but precluded them from study – with the field relying upon studying a handful of simple, arbitrary, and over-trained actions. To open the door to understanding the naturalistic behaviors we produce in our daily lives, our lab developed a suite of machine learning tools (A-SOiD/B-SOiD) to identify and quantify the breadth of behavior in species ranging from flies to humans. In one of several use-cases, we monitored mouse behavior continuously over the course of many days, yielding ~1 million action bouts. We simultaneously recorded from neurons across motor cortex and the basal ganglia, an area involved in decision-making and Parkinson's. Surprisingly, each of the 27 algorithm-discovered behaviors exhibited a robust neural signature. Although these neural hallmarks of spontaneous behavior were present across brain areas, we observed vast differences in the sparsity and dimensionality of representation as it passed through these areas. Finally, using a simple brain-computer interface, we were able to robustly predict the behavior being performed at any given time demonstrating the strength of the neurobehavioral relationships. These results, including the differing levels of complexity underlying the representation of behavioral features, shed new light into how the coordinated, synergistic translation of information between areas orchestrates complex behaviors.

Bio:
Eric Yttri (pronounced it-tree) is the Eberly Family Associate Professor of Biological Science. He seeks to understand the multi-scale brain interactions underlying movement decisions. His lab creates a partnership between technique development and informed experimentation to establish a blueprint for the circuit mechanisms of movement. After receiving his PhD working with monkeys at Washington University in St Louis, he moved to Janelia HHMI research campus to begin his exploration of cortical-subcortical dynamics in mice. Since joining the faculty at Carnegie Mellon University, he has earned several awards and he was named the chair of the Allen Institute Next Generation Leaders Council. He also is an active proponent of diversity and equity initiatives in his lab and across the field.

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