Predictive models and frame of reference in macaque sensorimotor cortex under natural conditions (A06)

• Subject Area: Cognitive, Systems and Behavioural Neurobiology ; Image and Language Processing, Computer Graphics and Visualisation, Human Computer Interaction, Ubiquitous and Wearable Computing ; Mathematics
• Term: since 2023
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 432680300

We study the question how the brain encodes and plans naturalistic behaviors. We will build a novel, graph-based, predictive model for the sensorimotor system, train it on large-scale neuronal data from freely behaving rhesus monkeys, and use it to test in what frame of reference neurons represent body posture, movement, and objects. We hypothesize that neural activity in naturalistic conditions cannot be explained by egocentric frames of reference alone, but also uses allocentric information, like the position of the animal in the room. We will test the predictions of the model in neurophysiological experiments.

• DFG Programme: Collaborative Research Centres
• Subproject of: SFB 1456: Mathematics of Experiment: The challenge of indirect measurements in the natural sciences
• Applicant Institution: Georg-August-Universität Göttingen
• Project Heads: Professor Dr. Alexander Gail; Professor Dr. Fabian Sinz