From Neurons to Perception: Using Computational Neural Modeling to Study the Neural Dynamics of Human Imaging Signals

Stephanie Jones, Harvard University School of Medicine

March 31, 2010 @ 05:00 pm to 06:00 pm

108 Wartik Laboratory, CG623 Hershey

Event Website

Dr. Stephanie Jones is an Instructor in Radiology at Harvard Medical School and an Assistant in Neuroscience at Massachusetts General Hospital, Department of Radiology. Abstract Elucidating the role that neural dynamics play in perception, cognition and action is a key challenge of modern neuroscience. While a wealth of information exists on this topic from human MEG and EEG studies, relating these data to the rich mechanistic understanding at the level of circuits and individual neuron types possible with animal models is a central missing link. In this talk, I will describe how biophysically principled neural modeling can be used to bridge this crucial divide, and provide novel, biophysically interpretable predictions on the neural origin of evoked and rhythmic cortical activity and their modulation with perception. Specifically, we have examined in detail the relation between rhythmic and evoked activity in human primary somatosensory neocortex (SI). These signals show modulation that predicts tactile detection, changes with cued attention, and varies across age (even in the young adult range, from 20-40 years). To study the neural dynamics generating these signals, we developed a laminar cortical column model of an SI circuit, containing excitatory and inhibitory neurons, and feedforward and feedback inputs. Model activity maps directly onto the recorded signals and generates specific predictions of cellular level neural events that mediate the observed SI activity. I will describe a novel prediction on the origin of the beta frequency component of the commonly observed SI mu rhythm (containing 10Hz and 20Hz bands), and present initial data from an electrophysiologic study in awake rodents that supports the model predictions._ Our findings may ultimately help to understand the neuropathology of these rhythms and their influence on sensory evoked responses in disease.

Contact

Michael Wenger
mjw19@psu.edu
814-863-6023