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What is the neural population dynamics? 


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Neural population dynamics refer to the computational framework that describes the activity of complex neural populations in the brain. These dynamics are characterized by strong temporal changes and can be represented as trajectory geometry in a low-dimensional neural space. They provide insights into information processing in sensory, cognitive, and motor functions of the brain. Neural population dynamics are distinct from the conventional analytical framework of single-neuron activity, which focuses on firing rate modulations using task parameters. However, recent research has developed state-space analysis techniques that link the rate-coding and dynamic models, allowing for the exploration of neural modulation dynamics using continuous and categorical task parameters. By combining these approaches, researchers have successfully extracted neural modulation structures and identified their functional relevance in a lower-dimensional space. These findings suggest that neural population dynamics provide a mechanistic understanding of information processing in the brain and offer a valuable tool for exploring the temporal structure of neural modulations.

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The paper does not explicitly define neural population dynamics.
Open accessPosted ContentDOI
Hsin-Hung Li, Clayton E. Curtis 
10 Feb 2023-bioRxiv
3 Citations
The paper provides evidence of both stable and dynamic working memory representations in the human cortex during a memory-guided saccade task. The dynamics of working memory varied across brain regions, with early visual cortex exhibiting the strongest dynamics.
The paper does not provide a direct definition of neural population dynamics. However, it mentions that neural population dynamics depict complex neural population activity as trajectory geometry in a low-dimensional neural space.
Neural population dynamics are described as trajectory geometry in a low-dimensional neural space, depicting complex neural population activity with strong temporal dynamics.

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