Keywords:
prehension acts
mathematical models
visuomotor control
reaching movements
eye-hand interactions
posterior parietal cortex
1) Neural coding of visual and somatosensory information in the
posterior parietal cortex 2) Neural coding of oculomotor
information in the posterior parietal cortex 3) Coding of
prehension movements in the posterior parietal cortex. 4)
Mathematical modeling of neuronal data 5) Set up of a real time rig
of bioelectrical activity 6) Reference frame of neurons of
the posterior parietal cortex during reaching movements.
1) Visuomotor control I am interested in understanding the cortical
mechanisms of visuo-motor integration. Each time a prehension
movement occurs, visual information is used to guide the hand
toward the target and to interact with it. Recent data indicate
that cortical areas positioned at the border between visual and
somatosensory systems, namely areas V6A and PEc, contain both
visual and somatomotor cells the neural activity of which is
correlated with prehension movements. The aim of this research is
to study the functional features of this two types of neurons and
their possible roles in the process of visuo-motor
integration.
Another research interest is the development of computational
models simulating V6A neural activity during a visuomotor task. In
particular, this model will test the frequency bands of the neural
signal and will check whether the behavioural state of the animal
and the direction of arm movement can be evaluated by the spectral
power. I m also interested in finding a mathematical model which
can reproduce the observed V6A modulations.
2) Functional and anatomical study of the medial parieto-occipital
cortex. I am interested in studying the functional properties
of neurons in the medial parieto-occipital cortex, namely areas V6,
V6A and PEc. I want also to check the role of these areas in the
context of visuomotor behavior.
I am also interested in studing the cortical circuits in which the
areas located in this part of the brain are involved. To obtain
this result, injection of neuronal tracers into the different areas
of this region of the brain and look for labelled material on brain
sections are necessary. Cortical areas connected with the injected
areas are recognized on the histological material. 2D and 3D brain
reconstructions allowed to better recognize locations of
labelled material, and then to better reconstruct the cortical
circuits.