Intracraneal Recordings in humans: Study of memory processes and applications to neural prostheses.
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Leicester
Department Name: Engineering
Abstract
I propose to use intracranial electrodes placed in epileptic patients for clinical reasons to investigate
how complex sequences of concepts are stored in the brain. I will register the activity of neurons
located in areas of the brain related to memory and correlate this activity with different sequences
to be remembered. This knowledge will enable us to know more about how information is stored in
the brain and, potentially, understand when this mechanism fails, as in memory disorders such as in
the case of Altzeimer?s disease patients.
The techniques developed for this project could be applied for developing devices that will be able to
?read? a sequence of actions from signals in the brain and pass these intentions into a computer. In
order to learn more about this particular application, I will be visiting one of the leading laboratories
in the field of Brain Machine Interfaces in the California Institute of Technology. The knowledge
acquired during this placement will be used in the future development of technology able to help
paralysed patients, victims of a spinal cord injury or patients with degenerative diseases.
how complex sequences of concepts are stored in the brain. I will register the activity of neurons
located in areas of the brain related to memory and correlate this activity with different sequences
to be remembered. This knowledge will enable us to know more about how information is stored in
the brain and, potentially, understand when this mechanism fails, as in memory disorders such as in
the case of Altzeimer?s disease patients.
The techniques developed for this project could be applied for developing devices that will be able to
?read? a sequence of actions from signals in the brain and pass these intentions into a computer. In
order to learn more about this particular application, I will be visiting one of the leading laboratories
in the field of Brain Machine Interfaces in the California Institute of Technology. The knowledge
acquired during this placement will be used in the future development of technology able to help
paralysed patients, victims of a spinal cord injury or patients with degenerative diseases.
Technical Summary
The focus of the proposed research is to study how individual neurons in human brain encode
different cognitive functions. Particularly, I am interested in the mechanisms supporting the
formation of episodic memories. Extracellular recordings measuring the activity of single neurons
and Local Field Potentials (LFP) are one of the predominant methods for studying the underlying
mechanisms supporting brain processes. In rare occasions such recordings are available in humans
due to the implantation of electrodes in epileptic patients for clinical reasons. Previous studies
involving extracellular recording in humans have shown that neurons in the Medial Temporal Lobe
(MTL) of the human brain fire to conscious perception of different sensory stimuli representing
abstract concepts and, moreover, those concepts can be decoded from the signal obtained during
recordings.
This unique opportunity of recording from neurons in humans will allow me to study the neural
activity in the MTL during the manipulation of concepts forming sequences, which is a simplistic view
of an episodic memory. The experiments will include the monitoring of the subject?s gaze employing
an eye-tracker in parallel to the recording of the neural activity by intracranial electrodes. The eyetracker
will allow performing unique experiments thanks to the complementary information about
patient?s behaviour.
I will also investigate the possibility of decoding the sequences presented from the neural activity.
This technique will be also useful for the future development of cognitive neural prosthetics to be
used by patients suffering from spinal cord injuries or neurodegenerative diseases affecting the
peripheral nervous system. I will be spending 12 months at Andersen Lab at the California Institute
of Technology, one of the leading laboratories in the field, with the intention of receiving
experimental training in monkey neurophysiology and intracranial recordings for neural prosthetics.
different cognitive functions. Particularly, I am interested in the mechanisms supporting the
formation of episodic memories. Extracellular recordings measuring the activity of single neurons
and Local Field Potentials (LFP) are one of the predominant methods for studying the underlying
mechanisms supporting brain processes. In rare occasions such recordings are available in humans
due to the implantation of electrodes in epileptic patients for clinical reasons. Previous studies
involving extracellular recording in humans have shown that neurons in the Medial Temporal Lobe
(MTL) of the human brain fire to conscious perception of different sensory stimuli representing
abstract concepts and, moreover, those concepts can be decoded from the signal obtained during
recordings.
This unique opportunity of recording from neurons in humans will allow me to study the neural
activity in the MTL during the manipulation of concepts forming sequences, which is a simplistic view
of an episodic memory. The experiments will include the monitoring of the subject?s gaze employing
an eye-tracker in parallel to the recording of the neural activity by intracranial electrodes. The eyetracker
will allow performing unique experiments thanks to the complementary information about
patient?s behaviour.
I will also investigate the possibility of decoding the sequences presented from the neural activity.
This technique will be also useful for the future development of cognitive neural prosthetics to be
used by patients suffering from spinal cord injuries or neurodegenerative diseases affecting the
peripheral nervous system. I will be spending 12 months at Andersen Lab at the California Institute
of Technology, one of the leading laboratories in the field, with the intention of receiving
experimental training in monkey neurophysiology and intracranial recordings for neural prosthetics.