Ryszard Auksztulewicz: Prediction, attention, and memory in the auditory cortex

CCNB Seminar Series is hosted by the Center for Cognitive Neuroscience Berlin.
Twitter: @CCNBerlin
Title: Prediction, attention, and memory in the auditory cortex
Date: 30.05.2023
Guest: Ryszard Auksztulewicz
Affiliation: European Neuroscience Institute Göttingen
Abstract:
The brain is thought to generate internal predictions, based on the memory
of past stimulation, to optimise behaviour. However, it is unclear to what
extent these predictions are modulated by other top-down factors such as
attention and task demands, and whether predictions of different sensory
features are mediated by the same neural mechanisms. In this talk I will
present results of several studies combining human and rodent
electrophysiology with computational modelling to identify the neural
mechanisms of sensory predictions and their interactions with other
cognitive factors. First, in a series of non-invasive studies using
MEG/EEG and direct recordings from humans using ECoG, analysis of
behavioural and neural data showed that the effects of predictions are not
automatic but are modulated by their contextual relevance. Second,
computational modelling of the data suggested that these modulations could be linked to specific candidate mechanisms, including gain control in
sensory regions. Finally, in a series of studies using invasive recordings
in anaesthetised rodents, neural representations related to stimulus
memory and predictions could be decoded from auditory cortical activity,
shedding light on the evolutionary conservation of predictive processing
across species.