Α joint research proposal submitted under the Human Brain Project Competitive Call by Medical School Associate Professor Avgis Hadjipapas and collaborators at Maastricht University,  has been selected for funding.

The proposed work aims to establish -currently largely-missing- links between brain signals that can be measured noninvasively in the human and the underlying neural circuitry. The proposal will utilize already existing single neuron, Local Field Potential (LFP) data in the macaque visual cortex and human magnetoencephalographic (MEG) data that were acquired in the same visual stimulation paradigm. The experimental data, which include information on the cortical layer and columnar cortical circuitry, will be used to inform and constrain computational neuronal models. The target of these models will be to study the links between single neuron activity, local network activity and activity in entire brain regions. The work will focus on high frequency electrical activity in the visual cortex, which is fundamental to sensory processing and visual perception both in the macaque and the human. The expected outcome will include an enhanced understanding of signals from the human brain in terms of the underlying functional neuronal circuitry.

The research proposal will be integrated into the Human Brain Project (HBP). HBP is a ten-year, large-scale European research initiative whose goal is to understand the human brain and its diseases and ultimately to emulate its computational capabilities. HBP has a total budget of over one billion Euro and is part of the European Future and Emerging Technologies (FET) Flagship Programme.