biostudies-literatureOby ERNICHD NIH HHSNIMH NIH HHSU.S. Department of Health & Human Services | NIH | National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS)National Science Foundation (NSF)NINDS NIH HHS383-393https://www.ebi.ac.uk/biostudies/studies/S-EPMC11802451biostudies-literatureUnknown28(2)The manner in which neural activity unfolds over time is thought to be central to sensory, motor and cognitive functions in the brain. Network models have long posited that the brain's computations involve time courses of activity that are shaped by the underlying network. A prediction from this view is that the activity time courses should be difficult to violate. We leveraged a brain-computer interface to challenge monkeys to violate the naturally occurring time courses of neural population activity that we observed in the motor cortex. This included challenging animals to traverse the natural time course of neural activity in a time-reversed manner. Animals were unable to violate the natural time courses of neural activity when directly challenged to do so. These results provide empirical support for the view that activity time courses observed in the brain indeed reflect the underlying network-level computational mechanisms that they are believed to implement.Nature neuroscienceDynamical constraints on neural population activity.PMC11802451NCS BCS1533672NS105318R01 NS129584R01 NS105318T32 NS086749R01 MH118929R01 HD071686McClain NTBatista APMotiwala AYu BMMarino PJDegenhart ADGrigsby EMOby ERfalseDynamical constraints on neural population activity.The manner in which neural activity unfolds over time is thought to be central to sensory, motor and cognitive functions in the brain. Network models have long posited that the brain's computations involve time courses of activity that are shaped by the underlying network. A prediction from this view is that the activity time courses should be difficult to violate. We leveraged a brain-computer interface to challenge monkeys to violate the naturally occurring time courses of neural population activity that we observed in the motor cortex. This included challenging animals to traverse the natural time course of neural activity in a time-reversed manner. Animals were unable to violate the natural time courses of neural activity when directly challenged to do so. These results provide empirical support for the view that activity time courses observed in the brain indeed reflect the underlying network-level computational mechanisms that they are believed to implement.2025-01-01T00:00:00Z2025 Feb2025-04-04T23:59:34.777Z2025-04-04T23:59:34.777ZS-EPMC118024513982514110.1038/s41593-024-01845-7