Autonomic and central nervous system correlates of cognitive control training for attentional disorders

This project will investigate how humans integrate sensory signals and expectations about the environment. It has long been known that human perception is a process during which the true state of the world has to be inferred based on ambiguous sensory signals. Theoretical frameworks such as Predictive coding and the Bayesian hypothesis have provided theoretical explanations how this may be achieved. We will study this using a combination of electrophysiological recordings and cognitive experiments in healthy human volunteers and schizophrenic patients. In addition, to probe the role of neurotransmitter systems in feedforwarding sensory signals vs feedback control of sensory systems by probabilistic expectations, pharmacological challenges shall be combined with these approaches.

Besides this empirical work, the aim is to model both the behavioural and the neuronal data by generative models of human cognition and human brain activity. The student will be trained in any of these techniques (analysis of brain imaging data, experimental psychology/psychophysics, computational modelling of data) and will be working with patients - the emphasis depending on the student's background and specific interests. This research will be conducted in the context of collaborations both within the University of Nottingham as well as other national and international institutions.