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'Zombie neurons' shed light on how the brain learns

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Originally published by Champalimaud Centre for the Unknown on April 2, 2024   Climbing fibers, in the form of ivy, wrap around the branches of a Purkinje cell-shaped tree, within the vibrant courtyard of a school populated by mice. The illustration captures the essential role of climbing fibers as teaching signals for associative cerebellar learning. Credit: Rita Felix Nestled at the back of your head, the cerebellum is a brain structure that plays a pivotal role in how we learn , adapting our actions based on past experiences. Yet the precise ways in which this learning happens are still being defined. A study led by a team at the Champalimaud Foundation brings new clarity to this debate, with a serendipitous finding of so-called " zombie neurons ." These neurons, alive but functionally altered , have helped to advance our understanding of the cerebellum's critical teaching signals . The word " cerebellum " means "little brain," despit...