The neuronal population is the proper unity of analysis in understanding how the brain works

The neural population doctrine (a term coined by @shreyaneuroctrl) is now well established in motor control. In their new review, @BecketEb & @NeuroPolarbear argue that a similar paradigm shift holds great promise for cognitive neuroscience!https://t.co/GvSy6ihZWN pic.twitter.com/507olNJewM

— Francisco Sacadura (@Fran_Sacadura) April 2, 2021

The abstract for the linked article:

A major shift is happening within neurophysiology: a population doctrine is drawing level with the single-neuron doctrine that has long dominated the field. Population-level ideas have so far had their greatest impact in motor neurophysiology, but they hold incredible promise for resolving open questions in cognition. Here, we codify the population doctrine and survey recent work that leverages this view to probe cognition. Our discussion is organized around five core concepts that provide a foundation for population-level thinking: (1) state spaces, (2) manifolds, (3) coding dimensions, (4) subspaces, and (5) dynamics. The work we review illustrates the progress and promise that population neurophysiology holds for cognitive neuroscience−for delivering new insight into attention, working memory, decision-making, executive function, and learning.

Color me gobsmacked, but I have to take their word for it. But I've known about and believed in population-level neural thinking every since the 1970s or so. I know that others have favored thinking about the individual neuron as the proper unit (so-called "grandmother cells"), but I didn't realize that population thinking was so neglected.