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H2020Individual fellowship2015–2018

BayesianHumanCortex · Bayesian computations in the human neocortex: deciphering the neuronal mechanisms of perceptual and syntactic inferences.

Horizon 2020 — Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions

Duration
2015-08-01 → 2018-07-31
EU contribution
€257,861
Participants
3
Scheme
MSCA-IF-GF

Lines connect the coordinator with its partners.

Results in brief

Bayesian computations in the human neocortex: deciphering the neuronal mechanisms of perceptual and syntactic inferences.

Several lines of research suggest that a wide variety of cognitive processes (e.g. perception, motor control, decision, language) can be decomposed into a common set of elementary computations implemented by the cortex. Our goal consists in 1) identifying these elementary computations, and 2) determining their neural implementations. This research has three major lines of impacts. First, it contributes to the development of neuroimaging techniques that can be transferred to the clinics. Second, the present research improves our understanding of the elementary mechanisms of the cortex, and can thus be critical to the diagnosis, prognosis and treatment of multiple psychiatric and neural disorders. Finally, the present research aims to isolate and implement the building blocks of high-level cognition. This knowledge is invaluable for the development of artificial intelligence, and may thus widely impact society. Overall, our research demonstrated that we can track the encoding, selection and maintenance of visual, auditory and linguistic inputs from brain recordings. These results revealed dissociable elementary mechanisms of information encoding, maintenance and retrieval in the human brain. Our research therefore provides a stepping stone to the unravel the computational architecture of human cognition.

Data: CORDIS, © European Union

Project objective

The diversity of human cognitive abilities contrasts with the homogeneity of its neural bases. Indeed, perception, decision and language processes largely rely on a common neuronal structure – the neocortex – whose functioning remains remarkably poorly understood. Recent theories suggest that the six layers of the neocortical microcircuit are specifically interconnected to perform generic computations, thanks to a Bayesian hierarchical combination of top-down expectations (priors) and bottom-up sensory information (likelihoods). However, recording each cortical layer is technically challenging. Mainly limited to animal electrophysiology, the rare empirical investigations of neocortical operations have been incapable of tackling human-specific cognitive abilities, such as syntax processing. Capitalizing on recent advances in human electrophysiology, I will address these challenges by testing whether the elements of Bayesian computations are implemented by 1) distinct cortical layers (e.g. priors in layers 5/6) or, alternatively, 2) distinct neuronal oscillations (e.g. priors in the alpha/beta band). I will then assess whether these neuronal computations form the elementary components of syntax processing. To characterize the exchange of information within and between cortical regions, I will combine whole-brain magnetoencephalography of with invasive electrocorticography and intra-laminar recordings, acquired from patients implanted for clinical purposes. This project, at the intersection of neuroscience, computational theory and linguistics will set the foundations for a mechanistic investigation of human cognition at an unprecedented level of detail, and will therefore allow me to start a competitive scientific career as an independent researcher. Ultimately, this innovative framework will help us understand the building blocks of human cognition, and the way neocortical dysfunctions lead to complex mental disorders such as schizophrenia.

Original text from CORDIS.

Participants

  • STIFTUNG FRANKFURT INSTITUTE FOR ADVANCED STUDIES · Frankfurt Am MainCoordinatorGermany
  • MAX-PLANCK-GESELLSCHAFT ZUR FORDERUNG DER WISSENSCHAFTEN EV · MUNCHENGermany
  • NEW YORK UNIVERSITY · NEW YORKUnited States

Links

Data: CORDIS, © European Union