News Finding: As reported in Nature, the researchers found for the first time that there are limitations on how adaptable the brain is during learning and that these restrictions are a key determinant for whether a new skill will be easy or difficult to learn.
Paper Finding: In the simplified network represented in Fig.
News Context: For example, a trained pianist can learn a new melody easier than learning how to hit a tennis serve. As reported in Nature, the researchers found for the first time that there are limitations on how adaptable the brain is during learning and that these restrictions are a key determinant for whether a new skill will be easy or difficult to learn. Understanding how the brain's activity can be "flexed" during learning could eventually be used to develop better treatments for stroke and other brain injuries.
Paper Context: A BCI offers advantages for studying learning because we can observe all of the neurons that directly control an action, and we can fully specify the mapping from neural activity to action. In the simplified network represented in Fig. 1b , neurons 1 and 3 positively co-modulate due to common input, whereas neurons 1 and 2 negatively co-modulate due to an indirect inhibitory connection.