Work

Dendrites and Efficiency: Optimizing Performance and Resource Utilization

Year: 2023

Type: preprint

Abstract: The brain is a highly efficient system evolved to achieve high performance with limited resources. We propose that dendrites make information processing and storage in the brain more efficient through the segregation of inputs and their conditional integration via nonlinear events, the compartmentalization of activity and plasticity and the binding of information through synapse clustering. In real-world scenarios with limited energy and space, dendrites help biological networks process natural stimuli on behavioral timescales, perform the inference process on those stimuli in a context-specific manner, and store the information in overlapping populations of neurons. A global picture starts to emerge, in which dendrites help the brain achieve efficiency through a combination of optimization strategies balancing the tradeoff between performance and resource utilization.

Source: arXiv (Cornell University)

DOI: 10.48550/arxiv.2306.07101

Authors: Makarov, Roman, Pagkalos, Michalis, Poirazi, Panayiota

Institutions: University of Crete, FORTH Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, Foundation for Research and Technology Hellas

Language: English

Topic: Neural dynamics and brain function

Subfield: Cognitive Neuroscience

Field: Neuroscience

Domain: Life Sciences

Open Access status: green

Funders: European Commission, Einstein Stiftung Berlin, National Institutes of Health, Horizon 2020 Framework Programme

Awards: G2364000600, G2624011139, G2626032938, G2754246859, A smart, hybrid neural-computo device for drug discovery, Advanced simulation, analysis and interpretation of network structures in biological data, G4937468798, G6105822073, G6933474398, G7844478127, G8858395165, G9000313180

OpenAlex ID: W4380558808

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