Objective
How do external events become part of our subjective reality? Correlative evidence suggests that the locus coeruleus-noradrenaline (LC-NE) system might play a key role in this process: LC-NE activity is markedly reduced in sleep and anesthesia and reinstated upon recovery of conscious perception, while during wakefulness it correlates with markers of conscious perception. However causal evidence, as well as sensitive experimental paradigms that carefully manipulate awareness in this context, are absent. This proposal aims at providing this missing causal link by pharmacologically manipulating NE levels bi-directionally in healthy volunteers performing liminal visual and auditory perceptual tasks, while reporting their subjective perceptual state. Neural signals will be recorded using simultaneous EEG-fMRI allowing high spatio-temporal resolution. If indeed NE plays a causal role in enabling conscious perception then reduced NE activity will increase perceptual threshold and give rise to impoverished neural responses, whereas enhanced NE activity will aid perceptual incorporation and effectively drive neuronal activity in high-order cortical regions. In a complementary set of experiments I will use a rare opportunity to record single-neuron and LFP activity from neurosurgical patients performing the same perceptual tasks while using pupillometry as a proxy for momentary NE levels. The exceptional signal-to-noise ratio of these recordings will allow linking precisely localized neuronal activity, momentary NE levels, and perception on a trial-by-trial basis, thereby refining and extending the EEG-fMRI results. The ability to manipulate and measure NE levels in subjects reporting their subjective state in sensitive perceptual paradigms, together with comprehensively examining neuronal activity from the level of individual neurons to the whole brain, promise to yield unique results that will shed new light on the neurobiological underpinnings of conscious perception.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- medical and health sciences basic medicine neurology epilepsy
- social sciences sociology social issues social inequalities
- social sciences sociology anthropology science and technology studies
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Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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H2020-EU.1.3. - EXCELLENT SCIENCE - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions
MAIN PROGRAMME
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H2020-EU.1.3.2. - Nurturing excellence by means of cross-border and cross-sector mobility
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Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
MSCA-IF-EF-RI - RI – Reintegration panel
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Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) H2020-MSCA-IF-2014
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
69978 Tel Aviv
Israel
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.