Brain circuit keeps tabs on what just happened to aid judgment of what’s happening now

MIT neuroscientists have identified a brain circuit that helps animals decide whether to stick with a current judgment or update it based on new information. As MIT News reports, the study found that a region of the thalamus provides the prefrontal cortex with a comparison between what is happening now and what just happened. By testing this in mice, researchers discovered that this circuit allows the brain to avoid evaluating every single event from scratch. The findings may eventually help scientists better understand autism, particularly how some patients struggle to filter out recurring sensory stimuli.

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