Martin Gardner’s Secrets of Math Education Success

“On Wednesday, Mr. Gardner will celebrate his 95th birthday with the publication of another book — his second book of essays and mathematical puzzles to be published just this year. With more than 70 books to his name, he is the world’s best-known recreational mathematician, and has probably introduced more people to the joys of math than anyone in history.

How is this possible?”

Findings – For Decades, Puzzling People With Mathematics – NYTimes.com.

Is the inconsistent firing of sensory neurons a bug or a feature?

Carnegie Mellon Scientists Develop Method To Make Cortical Neuronal Firing More Efficient.

Carnegie Mellon University biologists have found that firing reliability in the cerebral cortex can be significantly improved through pattern sensory activation, indicating that this unreliability isn’t a necessary component for cortical function. The researchers, led by Alison Barth, believe the discovery will become a cornerstone for furthering future research on brain functioning and perception. The study was published in the Sept. 23 issue of the Journal of Neuroscience.

Alison Barth, associate professor of biological sciences.

“One of the most mysterious features of the cortex is how bad it is at transmitting information,” said Barth, associate professor of biological sciences and a member of the Center for the Neural Basis of Cognition. “The cerebral cortex on a cell-to-cell basis tolerates great unreliability and impreciseness, yet still manages to function. This led us to ask, is this a bug or a feature?”

The Carnegie Mellon researchers sought to find out if this inefficiency was a feature of the wiring of the cerebral cortex. They believed that if the unreliability were indeed a feature, the variability in firing rates would be difficult to alter. The researchers tracked the neurons’ plasticity, or their ability to change, to tactile information in the cerebral cortex in a humble laboratory mouse. To induce plasticity, the investigators designed an experiment in which the mouse senses its surroundings through only one whisker. Whiskers are useful in studying neuronal plasticity because, like human fingers, each whisker is linked to its own unique area of the brain’s cortex, making it easy to monitor activity and changes in a single neuron in the correct region of the cerebral cortex.

Barth and colleagues found that, over time, animals that sensed the world through only one whisker showed a doubling in neuronal firing rates, with the frequency and timing of response much more reliable and precise. Improvements look longer to occur in older mice, but were still seen. These results indicated to the researchers that inefficiency in neuronal firing in the cerebral cortex could be easily corrected through repeated stimulation, indicating that it is not a fixed or necessary feature of the brain’s circuitry.

According to Barth, the next step will be to investigate the molecular mechanisms behind cortical neuronal firing and what impact they have on perception.

“The brain is the most marvelous computer that has been conceived of and it works so well as a whole, even with sub-par pieces. We need to find how it can function given what appears to be rather shoddy components,” Barth said.

The results will enable researchers to focus on the precise molecular mechanisms that underlie changes in neuronal reliability. In addition, they will help computational neuroscientists devise more accurate models of cortical function. Barth hopes to be able to directly address the role of precise firing in improved perception, using tactile stimulation delivered through the mouse’s whiskers. “More reliable firing should mean that the animal can sense things that previously were undetectable,” she said. “And if we can make the system work better, the fascinating question still remains: why isn’t it optimized to do this in the first place?”