Dr. Timo van Kerkoerle
Education:
| Obtained degree | Institution | Supervisor / Lab | Focus of work | ||||||||
| BSc. Physics | University of Amsterdam | ||||||||||
| BSc. Philosophy | University of Amsterdam | ||||||||||
| MSc. Physics | University of Amsterdam | ||||||||||
| PhD | Institute for Neuroscience, Amsterdam | Pieter Roelfsema | Understanding the neural correlates of selective attention in early visual areas of macaque monkeys using multi-electrode arrays. | ||||||||
Post-doctoral:
| Position | Institution | Supervisor / Lab | Focus of work | ||||||||
| Postdoc | Rockefeller University | Charles D. Gilbert | Changes in horizontal connections in macaque monkey primary visual cortex with perceptual learning using multi-photon imaging. | ||||||||
| Postdoc | Neurospin, France | Stanislas Dehaene | Comparison between humans and monkeys in symbolic representations using fMRI. | ||||||||
| Principal Investigator | Neurospin, CEA Saclay, France | Encoding of abstract representations in macaque monkey PFC and the top-down effects in early visual areas using multi-photon imaging. | |||||||||
Talk Title: Reliable and long-term three-photon imaging in macaque monkey cortex
The macaque monkey is exceptional in its ability to perform complex cognitive tasks, making it particularly well suited to study the detailed neural mechanisms of high-level cognitive functions. Recently, there has been somewhat of a revolution in optical neuroimaging techniques, in particular multi-photon imaging combined with activity dependent fluorophores. It would be very relevant for cognitive neuroscience to apply these techniques to macaque monkeys. However, 2-photon microscopy is not powerful enough to image through primate meninges (the protective layers of tissue that cover the brain). Therefore, we have developed a 3-photon microscope to allow reliable and long-term imaging in awake and behaving macaque monkeys. Furthermore, we have developed viral injection techniques to obtain large and homogenous expression of functional indicators. This setup now allows us to reliably image the vascular bed as well as neuronal activity in macaque monkey cortex.
About Dr. Timo van Kerkoerle:
Dr. Timo van Kerkoerle is a PI at NeuroSpin (CEA Saclay, France), as well as the manager of the DIP (Deep Imaging Platform). He is using multi-photon imaging to study the detailed neural mechanisms of the encoding of abstract representations in macaque monkey PFC, as well as the top-down effects of these representations on early visual areas.