Individual brain cells can ID both cars and cats

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. Researchers at MIT's Picower Institute for Learning and Memory found that single brain cells, if confronted with a difficult task, can identify objects as dissimilar as sports cars and dogs. Researchers have never been sure exactly how specialized cells in the brain can be. Do different neurons each contribute to unique thoughts or can some neurons be cognitive 'generalists' and participate in multiple thoughts? To answer this, MIT researchers examined the prefrontal cortex, the brain's executive in charge of decision-making and planning. In previous studies, Earl K. Miller, Picower Professor of Neuroscience, found that individual neurons in monkeys' brains can become tuned to the concept of "cat" and others to the concept of "dog." - This time, Miller and colleagues Jason Cromer and Jefferson Roy recorded activity in the monkeys? brains as the animals switched back and forth between distinguishing cats vs. dogs and sports cars vs. sedans.