AI translates monkey brain activity into plain English

Researchers built an AI system that can describe what individual brain cells in a monkey's visual system respond to. The system translates complex neural activity into simple language, like 'oriented edges' or 'conjunctions of form, color, and texture'.

Neuroscientists have long used complex math to describe what individual brain cells do. This new method uses AI to generate plain language descriptions. This makes it easier to understand and test ideas about how the brain processes visual information.