Neural Correlates of Category Learning in Monkey Inferior Temporal Cortex.

Area TE is required for normal learning of visual categories based on perceptual similarity. To evaluate whether category learning changes neural activity in area TE, we trained two monkeys (both male) implanted with multielectrode arrays to categorize natural images of cats and dogs. Neural activity during a passive viewing task was compared pre- and post-training.

Keypoint-MoSeq: parsing behavior by linking point tracking to pose dynamics.

Keypoint tracking algorithms can flexibly quantify animal movement from videos obtained in a wide variety of settings. However, it remains unclear how to parse continuous keypoint data into discrete actions. This challenge is particularly acute because keypoint data are susceptible to high-frequency jitter that clustering algorithms can mistake for transitions between actions.

Neural correlates of category learning in monkey inferior temporal cortex.

We trained two monkeys implanted with multi-electrode arrays to categorize natural images of cats and dogs, in order to observe changes in neural activity related to category learning. We recorded neural activity from area TE, which is required for normal learning of visual categories based on perceptual similarity. Neural activity during a passive viewing task was compared pre- and post-training.

A perspective on neuroscience data standardization with Neurodata Without Borders.

Neuroscience research has evolved to generate increasingly large and complex experimental data sets, and advanced data science tools are taking on central roles in neuroscience research. Neurodata Without Borders (NWB), a standard language for neurophysiology data, has recently emerged as a powerful solution for data management, analysis, and sharing. We here discuss our labs' efforts to implement NWB data science pipelines.

Unilateral caudate inactivation increases motor impulsivity in rhesus monkeys.

Impulsivity, the tendency to react quickly and without consideration of consequences, is correlated with asymmetry in the volume of the caudate nucleus in human patients. In this study, we sought to determine whether the induction of functional asymmetry in the caudate nucleus of monkeys would produce phenomenologically comparable behavior. We found that unilateral suppression of the ventral caudate nucleus increases impulsive behavior in rhesus monkeys.

Keypoint-MoSeq: parsing behavior by linking point tracking to pose dynamics.

Keypoint tracking algorithms have revolutionized the analysis of animal behavior, enabling investigators to flexibly quantify behavioral dynamics from conventional video recordings obtained in a wide variety of settings. However, it remains unclear how to parse continuous keypoint data into the modules out of which behavior is organized. This challenge is particularly acute because keypoint data is susceptible to high frequency jitter that clustering algorithms can mistake for transitions between behavioral modules.

Visual recognition in rhesus monkeys requires area TE but not TEO.

The primate visual system is often described as a hierarchical feature-conjunction pathway, whereby each level represents an increasingly complex combination of image elements, culminating in the representation of whole coherent images in anterior inferior temporal cortex. Although many models of the ventral visual stream emphasize serial feedforward processing ((Poggio T, Mutch J, Leibo J, Rosasco L, Tacchetti A. The computationalmagic of the ventral stream: sketch of a theory (and why some deep architectures work).