Search for: All records

Recent advances in connectomics and neurophysiology make it possible to probe whole-brain mechanisms of cognition and behavior. We developed a large-scale model of the multiregional mouse brain for a cardinal cognitive function called working memory, the brain’s ability to internally hold and process information without sensory input. The model is built on mesoscopic connectome data for interareal cortical connections and endowed with a macroscopic gradient of measured parvalbumin-expressing interneuron density. We found that working memory coding is distributed yet exhibits modularity; the spatial pattern of mnemonic representation is determined by long-range cell type-specific targeting and density of cell classes. Cell type-specific graph measures predict the activity patterns and a core subnetwork for memory maintenance. The model shows numerous attractor states, which are self-sustained internal states (each engaging a distinct subset of areas). This work provides a framework to interpret large-scale recordings of brain activity during cognition, while highlighting the need for cell type-specific connectomics. 

Van der Waals (vdW) epitaxial growth provides an efficient strategy to prepare heterostructures with atomically and electronically sharp interfaces. Herein, PbI2 was in situ thermally deposited onto exfoliated thin−layered CrOCl nanoflakes in high vacuum to fabricate vdW PbI2/CrOCl heterostructures. Optical microscopy, atomic force microscopy, X−ray diffraction, and temperature−dependent Raman spectroscopy were used to investigate the structural properties and phonon behaviors of the heterostructures. The morphology of PbI2 films on the CrOCl substrate obviously depended on the substrate temperature, changing from hemispherical granules to 2D nanoflakes with flat top surfaces. In addition, anomalous blueshift of the Ag1 and Au2 modes as the temperature increased in PbI2/CrOCl heterostructure was observed for the first time. Our results provide a novel material platform for the vdW heterostructure and a possible method for optimizing heterostructure growth behaviors.