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April 24, 2024
Virtual
Speaker: Dr. Melissa Franch, Postdoctoral Associate at Baylor College of Medicine
Bio: Growing up with a brother with profound autism, I developed a deep interest in social cognition, which has shaped my academic and research pursuits. After completing a B.S. in Biology and Science Education at North Carolina State University, I earned my Ph.D. in Neuroscience at UTHealth McGovern Medical School in the lab of Dr. Valentin Dragoi, where we discovered cortical representations of social learning in rhesus monkeys. Now, as a postdoctoral researcher in the Hayden lab at Baylor College of Medicine, I continue to investigate the neural basis of social cognition, focusing on language semantics in the human brain.
Talk Description: Learning of complex social behavior, such as cooperation, stems from our ability to perceive and respond to visual cues from others in our environment. However, the neural processing of visual information to guide social decisions is unknown. Here, we wirelessly recorded the spiking activity of populations of neurons in the visual and prefrontal cortex (V4 and dlPFC) in conjunction with wireless recordings of oculomotor events while freely moving macaques engaged in social cooperation. We propose a general mechanism for learning social interactions whereby increased spike timing coordination between V4 and dlPFC during social events leads to improved encoding and distributed representation of social variables within each brain region. Our results indicate that the visual-frontal cortical network prioritizes relevant sensory information to facilitate learning social interactions while freely moving macaques interact in a naturalistic environment.
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The research publications listed on this website include studies conducted by independent academic researchers utilizing Blackrock Neurotech devices. These studies are provided for informational purposes only and do not constitute an endorsement by Blackrock Neurotech of any investigational device for clinical use. Blackrock Neurotech was not involved in the design, conduct, or conclusions of these independent studies.
These publications do not contain claims regarding the safety, efficacy, or regulatory status of any device. Any investigational devices referenced are not approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for commercial distribution or clinical use.
For information regarding regulatory status or intended use, please contact Blackrock Neurotech directly.
