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Spatiotemporal structure of perception

Spatiotemporal structure of perception

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Spatiotemporal structure of perception
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<strong>JAWAHARLAL NEHRU UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF COMPUTATIONAL AND INTEGRATIVE SCIENCES</strong> S E M I N A R <strong>Dr. Arpan Banerjee</strong> Cognitive Brain Lab &amp; Centre for Excellence in Epilepsy and MEG, National Brain Research Centre, India. <strong>Spatiotemporal structure of perception</strong> Date and Time : <strong>23rd September, 2015 </strong> <strong>Abstract: </strong>Several neuroimaging supports the view that perceptual processing of environmental stimuli requires harmonious interaction of large-scale networks composed from distributed and interconnected neuronal populations. Typically these networks are omnipresent in neurophysiological data such as electroencephalogram (EEG) / magnetoencephalogram (MEG) and metabolic data such as functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and have been defined as "neurocognitive" networks. Our lab is engaged in developing techniques for visualization and quantitative characterization of neurocognitive networks as well as development of experimental paradigms for studying cognitive behavior. I will present an example of a fMRI experimental paradigm in speech perception where a neurocognitive network in the brain involving auditory cortex (for sound processing), visual cortex (processing vision), parietal cortex (attention), inferior frontal areas (processing linguistic representations) and posterior superior temporal sulcus (processing audio-visual stimuli) interacts for different perceptual categories. Interestingly, the presence of multisensory (such as audio-visual) stimuli doesn't guarantee the activation of multisensory brain areas but the context such as synchronous or asynchronous nature of the stimuli plays a huge role. Subject response behavior close to synchronous presentation of stimuli was markedly different from asynchronous case, featuring creation of illusory perceptual objects (speech sounds). When audio visual signal onsets are separated in time, lower activations in multisensory areas were observed along with a decrease in coupling strengths among cortico-cortical and sub-cortical to cortical connections. Some preliminary EEG data will be presented from this paradigm to show how neuro-cognitive network dynamics transcends scales of space and time. Finally, a computational model will be introduced for mechanistic explanation of behavior and neural dynamics.

A warm welcome to the modified and updated website of the Centre for East Asian Studies. The East Asian region has been at the forefront of several path-breaking changes since 1970s beginning with the redefining the development architecture with its State-led development model besides emerging as a major region in the global politics and a key hub of the sophisticated technologies. The Centre is one of the thirteen Centres of the School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi that provides a holistic understanding of the region.

Initially, established as a Centre for Chinese and Japanese Studies, it subsequently grew to include Korean Studies as well. At present there are eight faculty members in the Centre. Several distinguished faculty who have now retired include the late Prof. Gargi Dutt, Prof. P.A.N. Murthy, Prof. G.P. Deshpande, Dr. Nranarayan Das, Prof. R.R. Krishnan and Prof. K.V. Kesavan. Besides, Dr. Madhu Bhalla served at the Centre in Chinese Studies Programme during 1994-2006. In addition, Ms. Kamlesh Jain and Dr. M. M. Kunju served the Centre as the Documentation Officers in Chinese and Japanese Studies respectively.

The academic curriculum covers both modern and contemporary facets of East Asia as each scholar specializes in an area of his/her interest in the region. The integrated course involves two semesters of classes at the M. Phil programme and a dissertation for the M. Phil and a thesis for Ph. D programme respectively. The central objective is to impart an interdisciplinary knowledge and understanding of history, foreign policy, government and politics, society and culture and political economy of the respective areas. Students can explore new and emerging themes such as East Asian regionalism, the evolving East Asian Community, the rise of China, resurgence of Japan and the prospects for reunification of the Korean peninsula. Additionally, the Centre lays great emphasis on the building of language skills. The background of scholars includes mostly from the social science disciplines; History, Political Science, Economics, Sociology, International Relations and language.

Several students of the centre have been recipients of prestigious research fellowships awarded by Japan Foundation, Mombusho (Ministry of Education, Government of Japan), Saburo Okita Memorial Fellowship, Nippon Foundation, Korea Foundation, Nehru Memorial Fellowship, and Fellowship from the Chinese and Taiwanese Governments. Besides, students from Japan receive fellowship from the Indian Council of Cultural Relations.