Quantifying the role of neurons for behavior is a mediation question

TL;DR

This paper discusses the challenges in quantifying how individual neurons mediate the causal pathway from stimulus to behavior, highlighting conceptual and methodological difficulties.

Contribution

It clarifies the conceptual issues and limitations of current tools in establishing neuronal mediation in behavior.

Findings

Current tools are often inadequate for establishing neuronal mediation.

There is a conceptual gap between the desire for mediation and evidence obtainable.

The paper emphasizes the need for better methods to understand neuronal roles in behavior.

Abstract

Many systems neuroscientists want to understand neurons in terms of mediation; we want to understand how neurons are involved in the causal chain from stimulus to behavior. Unfortunately, most tools are inappropriate for that while our language takes mediation for granted. Here we discuss the contrast between our conceptual drive towards mediation and the difficulty of obtaining meaningful evidence.