Dr Giacomo Novembre | Saliency detection as a reactive process: unexpected sensory events evoke cortico-muscular coupling

Guest Lecture

  • Date: Nov 8, 2018
  • Time: 11:00 AM - 11:00 AM (Local Time Germany)
  • Speaker: Dr Giacomo Novembre
  • Department of Neuroscience, Physiology and Pharmacology, University College London, UK
  • Location: MPI for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences
  • Room: Wilhelm Wundt Room (A400)
Survival in a fast-changing environment requires humans not only to detect unexpected sensory events, but also to react. Such salient events, regardless of their sensory modality, evoke a large electrical brain response, dominated by a widespread “vertex” negative-positive potential. This event-related potential (ERP) is the largest synchronization of neural activity that can be recorded from a healthy and awake human being. Current interpretations assume that such vertex potential reflects sensory processes. Contrary to this general assumption, I will show that the vertex potential is strongly coupled with a modulation of muscular activity that follows the same pattern. Both the vertex potential and its motor effects are not reflexive, but depend on contextual factors. These results reconceptualise the significance of these evoked electrocortical responses suggesting that saliency detection is not merely perceptive but reactive, preparing an individual for subsequent appropriate actions.

Poster
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