A new study has uncovered a neuron mechanism the brain uses to track rapidly changing visual environments.

It reveals how neurons in a part of the brain responsible for recognizing objects respond to being shown a large number of images.

The study from Center for the Neural Basis of Cognition (CNBC), a joint project between Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Pittsburgh, was published online by Nature Neuroscience.

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In previous studies, researchers found that when subjects were shown just one familiar image, their neurons responded less strongly than when they were shown an unfamiliar image.

In this new study, researchers discovered that when subjects were shown familiar and unfamiliar images in a rapid succession, their neurons (especially the inhibitory neurons) fired much more strongly and selectively to images the subject had seen many times before.

"You wouldn't expect there to be such deep changes in the brain from simply making things familiar. We think this may be a mechanism the brain uses to track a rapidly changing visual environment," said Carl Olson, a professor at Carnegie Mellon.

Olson said that there were deep changes in the brain from seeing familiar things which they believe is a mechanism of the brain to track rapid changes in a visual environment.

Researchers believe their study provides a new update for neuron research.

Their study also found out that humans' brains responded the same way as animal subject when presented with images in rapid succession.

Scientists are focusing on linking these images in the brain to improve perception and cognition of humans.