Neuroscience Seminar Series

Profile & Research

Title: The neural dynamics of consciousness and cognition

Abstract: “The ability to flexibly and quickly comprehend and respond to our surroundings requires the coordinated recruitment of distributed wakefulness- and cognition-supporting brain areas. The state of consciousness – defined as being awake, alert, and aware of one’s surroundings – begins in the brainstem, where cell bodies of ascending neurons trigger a cascade of neurological events that culminate in heightened activity in the cerebral cortex and, in doing so, enable our experience of and interaction with the outside world. From the earliest instances of perception to the execution of goal-driven behaviors, rhythmic and rapid synchronization of large populations of neurons allows for brain-wide participation in attentional effort, with slower, more powerful oscillations coordinating activity across the brain and faster, millisecond-scale oscillations facilitating local information processing. By acting as periodic gatekeepers of when, where, and how incoming signals are integrated, neuroelectric brain waves comprise a critical component of psychomotor vigilance and top-down behavioral control. Ultimately, as we learn more about their properties and functions, they can be used as biomarkers of typical and atypical perceptual and cognitive function, including in conditions characterized by diminished or excessive activation of regions important for higher-order processes. In this talk, I will introduce the neurological and electrophysiological correlates of wakefulness, alertness, and attention as well as discuss how oscillatory abnormalities underlie cognitive dysfunction in translational models of sleep loss and psychiatric illness.”