The review article introduces the concept of neural manifolds as a crucial framework for understanding how the brain generates animal behavior. It explains that although animal behavior relies on coordinated activity across vast neural populations, this activity exhibits a low-dimensional structure, which the authors posit is a result of these manifolds. Neural manifolds are defined as mathematical descriptions of the collective states a population of neurons can achieve, given constraints like connectivity and behavior, and the text explores the link between these manifolds and observed behavior. The authors further discuss various factors that shape neural manifolds across different timescales, such as learning and evolution, and propose future causal experimental approaches to validate and alter these structures to build a more comprehensive theory of brain function.

References:

• Perich M G, Narain D, Gallego J A. A neural manifold view of the brain[J]. Nature Neuroscience, 2025: 1-16.