Speaker:

Satoru Suzuki, Professor, Department of Pychology, Northwestern University

Title:

Some simple rules governing macroscopic oscillatory neural activity in humans

Abstract:

Oscillatory neural activity is ubiquitous, potentially contributing to neural communications via frequency channels. Extensive research has related oscillatory activities in specific frequency bands and regions to performing specific behavioral functions such as attentional selection, working memory, episodic memory, decision making, motor control, and so on. Our recent EEG-based research focused on a complementary goal of discovering simple rules that may govern the global dynamics of oscillatory neural activity. I will discuss some of the rules we have identified so far, such as: (1) Macroscopic oscillatory synchronizations may change relatively slowly while maintaining maximum entropy on the seconds timescale, (2) Maximal and minimal synchronizations may occur in spatially complementary small-scale and large-scale networks, (3) The global phase organization of oscillatory activities may be controlled by phase reversals in the long-distance frontal-occipital network, and (4) Alpha-band oscillations spontaneously frequency-converge along the frontal-occipital axis, mediated by synergistic interactions, potentially enhancing information flows to and from occipital regions. These simple rules may provide useful macroscopic constraints on computational models. Given that our results are observational, future research is necessary to understand how these rules may contribute to cognition and the maintenance of adaptive, responsive, and/or metastable neural dynamics.

Speaker Bio:

Satoru Suzuki is a Professor and the Director of Graduate Studies at Northwestern’s Department of Psychology. A major goal of his research has been to understand the cortical mechanisms that enable people to perceive coherent global forms from retinal illumination patterns that are often ambiguous as to what meaningful forms and configurations are present. He has used psychophysical paradigms, recently combined with computational modeling, that allow for parametric comparisons of behavioral results with known physiological properties of visual neurons. His research provides insights into the ultimate questions of (1) how neural activity throughout the ventral visual stream generates a seemingly coherent and unitary visual awareness while responding concurrently to different components and aspects of retinal stimulation, and (2) how visual awareness is maintained in a meta-stable state so that it shifts from one coherent scene interpretation to another (driven spontaneously or by attention) at a rate optimized for efficient analyses of the visual environment.

Location:

In person: Chambers Hall, 600 Foster Street, Lower Level
Remote option: https://northwestern.zoom.us/j/99656192503
Passcode: NICO2023

About the Speaker Series:

Wednesdays@NICO is a vibrant weekly seminar series focusing broadly on the topics of complex systems and data science. It brings together attendees ranging from graduate students to senior faculty who span all of the schools across Northwestern, from applied math to sociology to biology and every discipline in-between. Please visit: https://bit.ly/WedatNICO for information on future speakers.

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