Invited talk: Micah M. MURRAY, Laboratory for Investigative Neurophysiology, University Hospital Center and University of Lausanne, Switzerland

When:
2017-10-11 at 11:00

Where:
Passage d'innovation, IDV

Details:

TITLE:
The Multisensory Scaffolding for Perception and Rehabilitation

ABSTRACT:
I will summarise our efforts to identify the brain mechanisms and behavioural relevance of multisensory interactions in humans. This work in turn has wide-reaching consequences on our understanding of the organization of the brain, the functional selectivity of low-level cortices, and plasticity across the lifespan. Across studies we have used combinations of psychophysics, ERPs, fMRI and TMS, taking advantage of innovations in signal processing to yield greater mechanistic interpretability of the data. Several general conclusions are supported by the collective data. First, (near) primary cortices are loci of multisensory convergence and interactions. Second, these effects occur at early latencies (i.e. <100ms post-stimulus onset). Third, these effects directly impact behaviour and perception. Fourth, multisensory interactions are context-contingent. One the one hand, they affect not only current stimulus processing, but also later unisensory recognition. Current unisensory (auditory or visual) object recognition and brain activity are incidentally affected by prior single-trial multisensory experiences; the efficacy of which is predictable from an individual’s spatio-temporal dynamics of multisensory interactions. We then extend such findings across the lifespan to show how multisensory processes may be yoked together. Finally, examples of multisensory processes at the service of rehabilitation are presented. Together, these data underscore how multisensory research is changing long-held models of functional brain organization and perception in both health, across the lifespan, and in disease and its remediation.

BIOGRAPHY:
Professor Murray completed his undergraduate training at The Johns Hopkins University (Baltimore, MD, USA) in 1995 and received his PhD in Neuroscience from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine (New York City, NY, USA) in 2001. After completing a post-doctoral fellowship at the University of Geneva (Switzerland), he was then recruited in 2003 to the University Hospital Center and University of Lausanne (Switzerland) to launch and direct the LINE (Laboratory for Investigative Neurophysiology). Since 2007 he likewise directs the EEG Brain Mapping Core of the Centre for Biomedical Imaging (CIBM). He holds adjunct academic appointments at the Ophthalmology Service, Fondation Asile des Aveugles as well as at the Department of Hearing and Speech Sciences at Vanderbilt University (Nashville, TN, USA). His editorial functions include as Editor-in-Chief of Brain Topography, section editor at Neuropsychologia, handling editor at Neuroimage, and editorial board member for Current Biology. Prof. Murray’s research spans across domains of sensory and cognitive neuroscience to the development and disseminate of innovative methods for non-invasive brain mapping and brain imaging. He has published over 130 research articles and has received several awards, including from the Leenaards Foundation and Swiss Brain League. Further details can be found at www.unil.ch/line.