*********************************
There is now a CONTENT FREEZE for Mercury while we switch to a new platform. It began on Friday, March 10 at 6pm and will end on Wednesday, March 15 at noon. No new content can be created during this time, but all material in the system as of the beginning of the freeze will be migrated to the new platform, including users and groups. Functionally the new site is identical to the old one. webteam@gatech.edu
*********************************
Summary Sentence: The association cortex spatial transformation network
Full Summary: No summary paragraph submitted.
Dr. Andrew AlexanderAndrew Alexander, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Fellow, Boston University
Livestream via Zoom
Dr. Alexander will present: The association cortex spatial transformation network
Spatial transformation is a critical neural computation in which the locations of stimuli in the external world, experienced via disparate sensory processes, are registered across distinct coordinate systems. During navigation, information about the configuration of external features is initially acquired via sensory modalities in egocentric coordinates, but is then transformed into a map-like internal model of locations, landmarks, and goals relative to the external world (i.e. allocentric coordinate frame) that can subsequently be utilized to guide actions. Here, I present work investigating the role of association cortices in spatial transformations including during ethologically-inspired predation behavior. These experiments reveal computational building blocks for mediating transformations between egocentric and allocentric coordinate frames, including the discovery of a subpopulation of retrosplenial cortex neurons that map the position of external features in egocentric coordinates. I have also explored how these signals could be synchronized with hippocampal processing in a state-dependent manner via network oscillations. Future work will utilize projection-specific neuroimaging and optogenetics to characterize and perturb dynamics in these neural circuits in both navigation and memory tasks, including during performance of a novel target pursuit assay designed to test the flexibility of navigation computations.
Host: Dr. Patrick McGrath
