Séminaire de Nicolas Gravel

Thursday 7th December 2023, at 11 AM, at Salle Vinay meeting room

Nicolas Gravel

Linking Structure-Function Relationships in Human Visual Cortex through Computational Neuroimaging and Electrophysiology

Nicolás Gravel¹, Maya A. Jastrzębowska¹, Elena Psarou², Pascal Fries², Nikolaus Weiskopf³, Matthieu Gilson⁴ , Radoslaw M. Cichy¹ 

¹ Department of Education and Psychology, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany ² Ernst Strüngmann Institute (ESI) for Neuroscience in Cooperation with Max Planck Society, Frankfurt, Germany  ³ Department of Neurophysics, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany ⁴ Institute de Neuroscience de la Timone, Marseille, France

The cortical neuronal circuits underlying human visual processing are structured around mesoscopic-scale organizational principles, including retinotopy and cortical layering. In this seminar, we will explore the relationship between anatomical structure and blood oxygen dependent (BOLD) activity propagation across the cortical layout of the early visual foveal cluster (V1-V2-V3). I will show how we can inform our understanding of the neuronal circuits underlying visual processing using the Human Connectome Project (HCP) 7T-fMRI retinotopy dataset, laminar electrophysiology and retinotopic effective connectivity network models. I will present key findings on task-specific (visual field mapping, movie viewing and resting state ) reconfiguration of feedforward and feedback interactions between parafoveal and foveal regions in V1, V2 and V3, as well as touch on preliminary validation work demonstrating the reliability of our approach to summarize the neuronal interactions unfolding across the underlying circuit layout of the visual cortex during different perceptual states. Finally, I look forward to discussing new advancements and techniques and to providing a clearer picture of neuronal circuit dynamics at the mesoscopic level.

Key points to be discussed: Linking retinotopic maps and models of network dynamics using ultra-high-resolution layer 7T; Preliminary results that authenticate these methods using the Human Connectome Project’s (HCP) 7T retinotopy dataset; The possibility of constraining retinotopic effective connectivity models with high resolution tractography techniques.