Award Details:
Award Type: Catalyst
Award #: C-067
Proposal Title: Reading the cortical code for natural motion
PI(s): Jason MacLean and Stephanie Palmer (UChicago) and David Schwab (NU)
Award Amount: $199,555.00
Application Cycle: Round 20 (Fall 2015)
Award Start Date: February 1, 2016
Award End Date: January 31, 2018
Abstract:
Discovering the language the brain uses to represent the world is a difficult challenge. Currently, our best models are unable to explain 90% of the activity of the visual area of the brain when viewing natural scenes. The current theoretical framework for visual processing in the brain is based on static models that neglect neuron-neuron interactions. Our work takes into account the connected and dynamic nature of real neural activity and makes use of new experimental and computational techniques to improve our model of the brain’s code for motion. In this proposal, we aim to uncover the set of neural activity patterns that are preferentially driven by salient visual input, such as the trajectory of a threatening predator, as opposed to background motion, like the fluttering of leaves in the wind, to optimally predict the future trajectory of moving objects in the world – a key computation performed in neocortex.