The Neurophysiology area at Pioneer Science investigates the neural mechanisms underlying perception, cognition, and behavior, with a focus on the functional dynamics of brain networks across different scales. By integrating experimental approaches that combine neurophysiological recordings, eye tracking, and translational models, the projects aim to understand how patterns of brain activity emerge and change under physiological and pathological conditions, contributing to the advancement of knowledge about cognitive functions and their disorders.
The research investigates the neural mechanisms of visual consciousness — the subjective experience of consciously perceiving an image, distinguishing what is effectively part of perception from what is processed unconsciously.
In the lab, this phenomenon can be studied through interocular suppression techniques, in which the brain stops reporting signals from one eye when different images are shown simultaneously to each eye. Traditionally, however, these studies are carried out under extremely controlled conditions, largely detached from the dynamic, active process of vision in natural settings.
The project aims to advance this field by adapting a classic interocular suppression paradigm to incorporate active vision, including eye movements. By combining precise neurophysiological recording methods such as EEG and MEG with eye tracking, the research will seek to map the activity of the brain networks involved in the formation of conscious perception during active exploration of the environment.
In the group’s research line, the focus is on developing a translational model of Alzheimer’s disease in non-human primates, with emphasis on the rhesus macaque — a species particularly well suited to the study of the neural mechanisms underlying complex cognitive functions.
The research investigates how the disease alters cortical neuronal dynamics, especially gamma oscillations, which are associated with perception, attention, and memory, and tend to weaken in aging and pathological conditions.
To this end, the project combines behavioral training, eye tracking, and multi-site cortical recordings, aiming to characterize longitudinally the functional changes induced by Alzheimer’s disease. This approach is essential to establish a robust biomodel and to test, under controlled conditions, the effectiveness of non-invasive therapies based on flickering stimuli in the gamma band.
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