Research Project Results & Impact
Several decades of research have shown that cognitive functions such as attention cannot be attributed to a single structure but rather arise from the coordinated activation of neuronal populations across distant brain areas. Thus, understanding the neural mechanisms of attention at the large-scale level requires an appreciation of the neuronal interactions among different brain areas as well as a better understanding of the circuit level mechanisms that give rise to the observed modulations in long-range functional connections. By recording simultaneously from distinct PFC regions we expect to elucidate the role of different prefrontal regions in the allocation of attention and reveal how selective processing arises through the interactions of diverse neuronal populations. We also expect to identify the contribution of distinct circuits to visual processing and oscillatory coupling between distant areas in order to reveal more general principles of neuronal communication. Disruption of long-range communication and coordination of neural activity has been implicated in several neurological disorders, which can collectively be referred to as “disconnection syndromes”. Studying the functional underpinnings of long-range neuronal interactions during attention and memory deepenσ our understanding of cognitive functions in the healthy and diseased brain. Moreover, we examine how cognitive information is encoded in distributed patterns of activity across populations of neurons using high-density multi-electrode arrays and machine learning algorithms. Understanding how neuronal populations encode visual and cognitive parameters is the first step to the development of effective cognitive BMIs and neurofeedback applications that can enhance or restore function in patients with visual, motor and cognitive impairments.
The research project was supported by the Hellenic Foundation for Research and Innovation (H.F.R.I.) under the “1st Call for H.F.R.I. Research Projects to support Faculty Members & Researchers and the Procurement of High-and the procurement of high-cost research equipment grant” (Project Number: 41)