Glutamate and computational principles of anti-correlated neural systems

Pictured is a parameter space of a biophysically-realistic computational model of working memory, with hypothesized neural system effects of N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor antagonism. Anticevic et al. report a pharmacological neuroimaging study illustrating glutamate’s key role in typically observed anti-correlation pattern in the human brain during working memory. Authors propose a parsimonious computational model for observed effects, suggesting that long-distance inhibitory projections mediate the observed anti-correlation. Image courtesy of John D. Murray and Alan Anticevic.