Predictive sequence learning in the hippocampal formation.

The hippocampus receives sequences of sensory inputs from the cortex during exploration and encodes the sequences with millisecond precision. We developed a predictive autoencoder model of the hippocampus including the trisynaptic and monosynaptic circuits from the entorhinal cortex (EC). CA3 was trained as a self-supervised recurrent neural network to predict its next input. We confirmed that CA3 is predicting ahead by analyzing the spike coupling between simultaneously recorded neurons in the dentate gyrus, CA3, and CA1 of the mouse hippocampus. In the model, CA1 neurons signal prediction errors by comparing CA3 predictions to the next direct EC input. The model exhibits the rapid appearance and slow fading of CA1 place cells and displays replay and phase precession from CA3. The model could be learned in a biologically plausible way with error-encoding neurons. Similarities between the hippocampal and thalamocortical circuits suggest that such computation motif could also underlie self-supervised sequence learning in the cortex.

Hippocampal spatial representations exhibit a hyperbolic geometry that expands with experience.

Daily experience suggests that we perceive distances near us linearly. However, the actual geometry of spatial representation in the brain is unknown. Here we report that neurons in the CA1 region of rat hippocampus that mediate spatial perception represent space according to a non-linear hyperbolic geometry. This geometry uses an exponential scale and yields greater positional information than a linear scale. We found that the size of the representation matches the optimal predictions for the number of CA1 neurons. The representations also dynamically expanded proportional to the logarithm of time that the animal spent exploring the environment, in correspondence with the maximal mutual information that can be received. The dynamic changes tracked even small variations due to changes in the running speed of the animal. These results demonstrate how neural circuits achieve efficient representations using dynamic hyperbolic geometry.

Mo-substituted Keggin tungstosilicate microtubes: preparation and characterization.

The synthesis and characterization of microtubes of SiMoW(11) Keggin polyoxometalates containing either an Mo(V) or Mo(VI) atom is reported. The introduction of a Mo atom into the Keggin-type tungstosilicate microtubes endows them with new properties. The Mo-substituted microtubes may exert both W and Mo functionalities in electrocatalytic reactions and in the immobilization of noble metal nanoparticles. The degree of reduction of the Mo component in the SiMoW(11) microtubes is controllable simply by tuning the amount of reductant present in the mother liquor. Mo-substituted Keggin tungstosilicate microtubes in their reduced state are more stable than the all-tungsten Keggin tungstosilicate heteropoly blue microtubes.

Hybrid microtubes of polyoxometalate and fluorescence dye with tunable photoluminescence.

Fluorescent microtubes based on α-Keggin tungstosilicate and fluorescein (SiW(12)-F) have been obtained by using a simple method, which present tunable photoluminescence from sky blue to green to red by variation of excitation light. The SiW(12) component can inhibit photobleaching of fluorescein.

Preparation and application of multiple-component-doped keggin polyoxometalate microtubes--towards a component-tunable hollow structure.

In this paper, the preparation of ascorbic acid (AA)-doped polyoxometalate (SiW(12)-AA) microtubes is described. The SiW(12)-AA microtubes convert to heteropoly blue microtubes upon exposure to ammonia gas, which is an ammonia-triggered solid-solid redox reaction between AA molecules and polyoxometalates, and can possibly be applied to a chemical sensor for detecting ammonia and volatile organic amines. Furthermore, the SiW(12)-AA microtubes have been applied to the in situ synthesis of Ag nanoparticles (NPs) through the redox reaction between the AA component and Ag(+) ions occurring on the surfaces of the SiW(12)-AA microtubes to give silver NPs immobilized on polyoxometalate microtubes (Ag@SiW(12)).