The neuronal circuit that filters distractions has been identified
To decide where not to pay attention they have found how the brain is shaped: a neuronal circuit of the talamo is responsible for performing the filter work. Specifically, this circuit is formed by a layer of neurone called TRN, which surrounds the talamo. This circuit, which controls the attention and processing of the senses, has been identified in the tests performed in the mouse.
In 1984, Francis Crick proposed that the TRN would fulfill the function of a door in the brain, which would regulate what information goes from the talamo to the cortex and what not. In fact, the information is processed and interpreted in the cortex, but to reach it, what is received through the senses must first pass a talamo.
The techniques developed since then have allowed a team of researchers from the Cold Spring Harbor laboratory to demonstrate that Crick's hypothesis is correct. To demonstrate the hypothesis they have inactivated a certain protein in the TRN zone: Erb24, very abundant in the TRN area, and other previous studies suggest that mutations of the ERb24 gene may be related to schizophrenia and attention-deficit syndrome.
Because mice that did not have Erb24 proteins had great problems of attention and distraction. According to the researchers, without the Erb24 protein, the connections between the TRN and the cortex are reinforced, which disrupts the surveillance tasks of the TRN. The results of the work have been published in the journal Nature Neuroscience.
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