18.1. 2016, Neurofyziologie paměti

PhD project: Spatial processing in the dorsal and ventral visual stream of the human brain

The project will focus on the spatial scene processing in the dorsal and ventral visual streams studied by intracranial EEG. While the dorsal stream, going from visual cortex to parietal lobe, processes mainly the spatial information, the ventral stream, going to the temporal lobe, is focused on object recognition. Both streams probably converge in the temporal lobe, enabling the emergence of the spatial representation containing orientation marks, but the precise localization and dynamics of this connection is unclear. In the project, the student should develop cognitive computer screen tests focused on activity of the two visual streams, using fast presentation of visual stimuli. The intracranial recordings will be obtained using these tests in epileptic patients. The data will be analyzed in Matlab, using both available libraries and self-made scripts, to determine the time windows of activation and synchronization of these brain areas with high time resolution.

Candidate’s profile

MSc degree or equivalent in cognitive psychology, neuroscience or related fields, with at least basic programming skills and motivation for cognitive psychology research.

Relevant publications:

Bastin,J., Vidal,J.R., Bouvier,S., Perrone-Bertolotti,M., Benis,D., Kahane,P., David,O., Lachaux,J.P., and Epstein,R.A. (2013). Temporal components in the parahippocampal place area revealed by human intracerebral recordings. J Neurosci 33, 10123-10131.

Cloutman,L.L. (2013). Interaction between dorsal and ventral processing streams: Where, when and how? Brain and Language 127, 251-263.

Kravitz,D.J., Saleem,K.S., Baker,C.I., and Mishkin,M. (2011). A new neural framework for visuospatial processing. Nat Rev Neurosci 12, 217-230.

Lachaux,J.P., Axmacher,N., Mormann,F., Halgren,E., and Crone,N.E. (2012). High-frequency neural activity and human cognition: past, present and possible future of intracranial EEG research. Prog. Neurobiol. 98, 279-301.

Sehatpour,P., Molholm,S., Schwartz,T.H., Mahoney,J.R., Mehta,A.D., Javitt,D.C., Stanton,P.K., and Foxe,J.J. (2008). A human intracranial study of long-range oscillatory coherence across a frontal-occipital-hippocampal brain network during visual object processing. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 105, 399.
 

Supervisor: Kamil Vlček, PhD.