Grant: Operating Grant

As you are reading this text, hundreds of billions of neurons in your brain are firing action potentials, thereby enabling you to understand what is written. As in any good democracy, the activity of the individual neuron counts for little and it is instead the activities of large neural populations that determine most behaviors (e.g. understanding what is written). Now, there is accumulating evidence that the activities of neurons are not independent but are instead correlated (i.e. the fact that one neuron fires an action potential influences whether a neighboring neuron will also fire an action potential or not). Moreover, a growing body of evidence suggests that these correlations are not static but are instead dynamic and depend on context (e.g. whether you are paying attention to this text or not). This research aims at understanding how correlations vary and what functions they serve in the brain. Our results are expected to help doctors be more effective in their diagnosis and treatment of people suffering from impaired sensory function and/or mental disorders.