Objective Several sophisticated image processing circuits have been discovered in the animal retina, many of which manifest massive neural synchrony. A major insight is that this type of synchrony often translates to high-frequency activity on a macroscopic level, but electroretinography (ERG) has not been tapped to examine this potential in humans. Bolstered by our compelling results combining ERG with magnetoencephalography (MEG), this project will address several open questions with respect to human visual processing:1) Could variable retinal timing be linked to intrinsic image properties and pass on phase variance downstream to visual cortex? Our data suggests the retina responds to moving gratings and natural imagery with non-phase-locked high gamma oscillations (>65 Hz) just like visual cortex, and that slower ERG potentials exhibit strong phase-locking within stimuli but large phase variance across stimuli.2) Do such retinal gamma band responses, both evoked and induced, directly drive some cortical gamma responses? Pilot data suggests that it can, through retinocortical coherence, our novel ERG-MEG mapping technique.3) Several kinds of motion have now been shown to elicit massive synchrony in mammalian retina circuits. Does this also result in macroscopic high-frequency activity? If so, our experiments will finally reveal and characterize motion detection by the human retina.4) Do efferent pathways to the retina exist in humans? We discovered that the ERG exhibits eyes-closed alpha waves strikingly similar to the classic EEG phenomenon and, leveraging our retinocortical coherence technique, that this activity is likely driven by contralateral occipital cortex. Then, can retinal responses be influenced by ongoing cortical activity?Characterizing retinocortical interaction represents a complete paradigm shift that will be imperative for our understanding of neural synchrony in the human nervous system and enable several groundbreaking new avenues for research. Fields of science natural sciencesbiological sciencesneurobiologynatural sciencescomputer and information sciencessoftwaremedical and health sciencesclinical medicinepsychiatrymedical and health sciencesclinical medicineophthalmologynatural sciencescomputer and information sciencesdata sciencedata processing Programme(s) H2020-EU.1.1. - EXCELLENT SCIENCE - European Research Council (ERC) Main Programme Topic(s) ERC-StG-2014 - ERC Starting Grant Call for proposal ERC-2014-STG See other projects for this call Funding Scheme ERC-STG - Starting Grant Coordinator AARHUS UNIVERSITET Net EU contribution € 1 499 850,00 Address Nordre ringgade 1 8000 Aarhus c Denmark See on map Region Danmark Midtjylland Østjylland Activity type Higher or Secondary Education Establishments Links Contact the organisation Opens in new window Website Opens in new window Participation in EU R&I programmes Opens in new window HORIZON collaboration network Opens in new window Other funding € 0,00 Beneficiaries (1) Sort alphabetically Sort by Net EU contribution Expand all Collapse all AARHUS UNIVERSITET Denmark Net EU contribution € 1 499 850,00 Address Nordre ringgade 1 8000 Aarhus c See on map Region Danmark Midtjylland Østjylland Activity type Higher or Secondary Education Establishments Links Contact the organisation Opens in new window Website Opens in new window Participation in EU R&I programmes Opens in new window HORIZON collaboration network Opens in new window Other funding € 0,00
