Inferring neural dynamics of memory during naturalistic social communication.

ABSTRACT: Memory processes in complex behaviors like social communication require forming representations of the past that grow with time. The neural mechanisms that support such continually growing memory remain unknown. We address this gap in the context of fly courtship, a natural social behavior involving the production and perception of long, complex song sequences. To study female memory for male song history in unrestrained courtship, we present 'Natural Continuation' (NC)-a general, simulation-based model comparison procedure to evaluate candidate neural codes for complex stimuli using naturalistic behavioral data. Applying NC to fly courtship revealed strong evidence for an adaptive population mechanism for how female auditory neural dynamics could convert long song histories into a rich mn

SUBMITTER: Pang R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10849655 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature