[koglist] [CDC Seminars] CogSci CEU Departmental Colloquium: Oct 3 Wednesday: Zoltan Nadasdy: Grid cells and phase coding in the human brain

The CEU Department of Cognitive Science cordially invites you to a talk (as part of its Departmental Colloquium series) by Zoltan Nadasdy Seton Brain & Spine Institute, Dept. of Psychology, UT Austin, Dept. of Cognitive Psychology, ELTE Budapest Date: Wednesday, Oct 3, 2012 - 17:00 - 18:30 Location: Department of Cognitive Science, CEU, Frankel Leó út 30-34., Room G15 Grid cells and phase coding in the human brain Grid cells were discovered in the rodent brain but direct evidence for their human analogue is still lacking. These neurons are active whenever the animal passes equidistant spatial locations with a 60 degree rotational symmetry, making up a characteristic hexagonal tessellation pattern. The spatially periodic activity is assumed to serve as a scale free reference for spatial navigation. Searching for the human analogue, we recorded single neurons from the entorhinal cortex of epilepsy patients during spatial navigation in a virtual reality environment. We found a broad repertoire of spatially periodic firing patterns from each patient, including those of typical of grid cells. In addition, we investigated the relationship of spatially periodic activity to ongoing local field oscillations, in particular to theta and gamma rhythms. Our preliminary data show a spatially periodic modulation of spike phases relative to gamma oscillations, which are consistent across multiple cells from the same patient. We propose that a combination of firing rate and firing phase coding may underlie spatial navigation in the human entorhinal cortex. We're looking forward to see you there (Frankel Leo u. 30-34) ! Cognitive Science Events at CEU: http://cognitivescience.ceu.hu/events _______________________________________________ Subscribe by sending an empty mail to seminars-subscribe(a)cdc.ceu.hu Unsubscribe by sending an empty mail to seminars-unsubscribe(a)cdc.ceu.hu