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Week 7 Writing Assignment

The study examined brain activity in mice during daydreaming. Researchers recorded activity from 7,000 neurons in the visual cortex as mice were shown images and a gray screen. When viewing images, neuronal firing patterns differentiated the images. During the gray screen, firing patterns sometimes matched previous images, suggesting daydreaming. Daydreaming occurred when mice were relaxed and helped neurons better distinguish images over time. Researchers also found daydreaming activity in the visual cortex and hippocampus simultaneously, indicating communication between these memory-related regions. The preliminary findings suggest daydreaming may aid learning and memory through brain plasticity.

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15 views

Week 7 Writing Assignment

The study examined brain activity in mice during daydreaming. Researchers recorded activity from 7,000 neurons in the visual cortex as mice were shown images and a gray screen. When viewing images, neuronal firing patterns differentiated the images. During the gray screen, firing patterns sometimes matched previous images, suggesting daydreaming. Daydreaming occurred when mice were relaxed and helped neurons better distinguish images over time. Researchers also found daydreaming activity in the visual cortex and hippocampus simultaneously, indicating communication between these memory-related regions. The preliminary findings suggest daydreaming may aid learning and memory through brain plasticity.

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rpoka003
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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WHAT HAPPENS TO THE BRAIN WHILE DAYDREAMING?

submitted on Wednesday, 3 January 2024, 2:40 PMmodified on Wednesday, 3 January 2024, 2:51 PM

Source : Harvard medical school

The study conducted by researchers aimed to understand the neurobiological process of daydreaming

and it’s potential role in learning and memory. The researchers focused on the visual cortex, a brain

region responsible for visual information. They tracked the activity of neurons in the visual cortex of

mice while animals where in a quiet waking state. The mice where shown to different images

repeatedly with a gray screen in between. The researchers simultaneously recorded the activity of 7000

neurons in the visual cortex.

They found that when the mice looked at the image , they found that the neurons fired in a specific

pattern that differentiated between the two images. Interestingly when the mice looked at the gray

screen , the neurons sometimes fired in a similar pattern, suggesting that the mice were daydreaming

about the same image.

These daydreaming occurred when the mice were relaxed and exhibited calm behavior. The mice

daydreamed about the recent image and also during the day. Over time the pattern associated with each

image became more distinct from each other , involving separate neurons. The patterns seen during the

mice first days of daydreaming predicted the eventual pattern when they looked at the image again.

Furthermore, the researchers found that daydreaming activity in the visual cortex occurred

simultaneously with replay in the hippocampus, another brain region involved in memory. This

suggests that the two brain regions were communicating during daydreaming.
The study shows preliminary evidence that daydreams play a role in brain plasticity, the brains ability

to remodel itself during new experiences. The researchers suggest that daydreaming may help the brain

discriminate between different images and help in learning and memory. However further research is

needed to confirm these studies and know the mechanisms involved.

In future the researchers plan to visualize connections between individual neurons in the visual cortex

and examine how the visual images change when they process visual images. They also help to

investigate whether similar activity patterns occur in the visual cortex of humans during daydreaming

or recalling images. The study did not make mention of any limitations.

In conclusion, the study focused on the biological rhythms of the mice while in a relaxed state versus

being more alert and conscious. When presented with an image during this relaxed state , the patterns

of the rhythms suggested that the mice were daydreaming about the images. The entire study about

brain activity are fascinating and sleep apnea diagnosis makes it interesting too.

References

What Happens in the Brain While Daydreaming?

Aspect 1

Assignment Requirements (80%)


Did your peer write about a recent news article from the assigned website?

Did the paper summarize the article so that it was easy to know what it was about without reading the

article itself?

Did your peer use at least 2 key terms (in bold) from the textbook?

Did your peer describe their thoughts about limitations of the study?

Did your peer explain what they learned throughout the course that ties in with this article?

Did your peer write about how the study may affect our society?

Was the paper 12-point, Times New Roman, and at least 2 pages (not including the title page and

source list?)

Is the title page and source list present?

rate aspect 1 from 1 to 8


Format Requirements (10%)

Does the paper include an introduction and conclusion?

Check the source page and see if your peer used their own words to summarize the article (instead of

just copy and paste)

rate aspect 2 from 1 to 2

Aspect 3:

Quality Requirements (10%)

Is the paper well organized, easy to read, with clear sentences and paragraph transitions?

Is the paper professionally written, with few grammar, syntax, or spelling errors, and uses college level

diction?

rate aspect 3 from 1 to 2

Give an overall Feedback and comment for the author

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