The International Brain Laboratory (IBL), of which we are a member, published two landmark papers in Nature this week, presenting the first comprehensive brain-wide maps of neural activity during decision-making in mice. These studies reveal how neural circuits across the entire brain coordinate during complex behavioral tasks and demonstrate how prior experience shapes decision-making processes at the population level. The work represents a major advance in systems neuroscience, providing unprecedented insight into whole-brain dynamics underlying cognition. Congratulations to Chris and Yanliang for their contributions to these groundbreaking studies!

References:

1. “A brain-wide map of neural activity during complex behaviour,” International Brain Laboratory, Dora Angelaki, Brandon Benson, Julius Benson, Daniel Birman, Niccolò Bonacchi, Kcénia Bougrova, Sebastian A. Bruijns, Matteo Carandini, Joana A. Catarino, Gaelle A. Chapuis, Anne K. Churchland, Yang Dan, Felicia Davatolhagh, Peter Dayan, Eric EJ DeWitt, Tatiana A. Engel, et al. Nature, September 03, 2025. DOI: 10.1038/s41586-025-09235-0
2. “Brain-wide representations of prior information in mouse decision-making,” Charles Findling, Felix Z. Hubert, International Brain Laboratory, Luigi Acerbi, Brandon Benson, Julius Benson, Daniel Birman, Niccolò Bonacchi, Sebastian Bruijns, Matteo Carandini, Joana A. Catarino, Gaelle A. Chapuis, Anne K. Churchland, Yang Dan, Felicia Davatolhagh, Eric E. J. DeWitt, Tatiana A. Engel, et al. Nature, September 03, 2025. DOI: 10.1038/s41586-025-09226-1