Daniel Margulies, guest at the PNC Distinguished Lectures

29.01.2024

As part of the seminars organized by the “Padua Neuroscience Center – PNC”, Daniel Margulies will give a talk entitled “Cortical gradients of functional integration” on February 1, 2024, at the Fondazione Ricerca Biomedica Avanzata VIMM.

Understanding how the cerebral cortex transforms distinct sources of information into cohesive experiences requires knowledge of how functional integration emerges from cortical structure. Insights into functional processing streams indicate that cortical areas are arranged stepwise, representing functional gradients along the cortical surface. Having been largely restricted to describing processing within specific sensory modalities, how do these principles generalize and extend to the surrounding association cortex? Building on recent work characterizing a principal axis of cortical organization, it will be presented a line of research that investigates the role of cortical geometry in enabling convergence across distinct modalities. By describing how the spatial layout of the cerebral cortex shapes its function, this line of research proposes a framework for understanding structural constraints that contribute to the integrated nature of cognition.

Daniel Margulies is CNRS Research Director, UMR 8002, Integrative Neuroscience & Cognition Center, at the University of Paris. His research investigates the organization of large-scale brain networks, primarily through the analysis of intrinsic activity as measured with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). He has developed approaches to define subregions within complex cortical areas, conducted cross-species comparative neuroanatomical studies, and related variation in these networks to phenotypic differences across individuals. His current research addresses the emergence of network topography and its relationship to cortical structure.

The seminar is held in English, and it is open to professors, researchers, lecturers, Ph.D. students, postdoctoral fellows and grant holders.

Attendance is free as long as seats are available.

WHEN
February 1, 2024, at 3:00 pm

WHERE
Sala Seminari
Fondazione Ricerca Biomedica Avanzata VIMM
Via Orus 2 – Padova
(Building A, Ground Floor)

FURTHER INFORMATION
administration.pnc@unipd.it