Seminar by Prof. Randy Bruno: The Many Circuits for the Neocortex

Seminar by Randy M. Bruno Ph.D.
 

DATE: Monday, June 29
TIME: 10:00 - 11:00
VENUE: C210 Seminar Room

TITLE: The Many Circuits of the Neocortex

 Abstract:
The neocortex mediates all of human and animal cognition—breathtakingly encompassing sensation, perception, decision making, and movement. These diverse functions are achieved by highly stereotyped circuitry that nature appears to have iterated across the entire surface of the brain. Recently we discovered that ascending signals from thalamus are copied separately to the superficial and deep layers of sensory cortex. Despite dense connections between layers, ascending thalamic signals account for all the sensory-driven activity of the deep layers. Drawing from experiments using anatomy, sensory physiology, pharmacology, optogenetics, and behavior in the rodent whisker system, I will present my laboratory’s latest results demonstrating independence of these two sets of layers. I will also discuss our efforts to identify their individual roles in behavior and computation.