Pascal Fries | “Learning of stimulus probability and reward value in early visual cortex”

Theoretical and computational neuroscience \ Manfred Eigen lecture theatre Natural viewing entails repeating stimuli, whose processing could be optimized. Repetition typically leads to reduced neuronal firing rates and, as I will show, to increased neuronal gamma-band synchronization in visual cortex, likely preserving postsynaptic impact. These gamma increases are stimulus-specific, do not transfer to other stimuli, persist for minutes, occur with…

Jakub Vohryzek (Deco lab) | “Whole-brain digital twins: modelling and perturbing brain dynamics in health and disease”

Theoretical and computational neuroscience \ Manfred Eigen lecture theatre Whole-brain computational models provide a framework for linking structural connectivity with large-scale brain dynamics. In this talk, I will present recent work using neuroimaging-informed dynamical models to reproduce and perturb functional brain activity, forming the basis for “digital twins” of individual brains. By combining generative modelling with empirical data, these models…

Sheila Nirenberg | “A new and unexpectedly effective treatment for restoring sight”

Theoretical and computational neuroscience \ Manfred Eigen lecture theatre An unexpected finding during a clinical trial for a disease that causes blindness opened the door to a new type of treatment. Briefly, the trial was focused on an optogenetic gene therapy for a disease called Retinitis Pigmentosa, but in the process of assessing patients, a new mechanism-of-action emerged. This allowed…