Amir Amedi has prepared for us a talk in which he will discuss principles driving specializations in the human brain and their dependence on specific experiences during development i. Specifically, he will focus on studying Nature vs. Nurture factors in shaping up specialization in the ventral and dorsal stream and retinotopic and topographic specializations in the adult human brain.
In addition, he will show data of an extreme form of adult plasticity replicating non-invasively some of the classical work of Mriganka Sur lab in development and invasively in animal models. He discusses research indicating that neural populations are tuned to auditory frequency both in auditory cortex and occipital and parietal cortices, but only after training in the adult brain, and that these maps are the result of adult neuroplasticity way past critical periods.
In the second part of the talk he will cover a speech-to-touch sensory substitution approach which improves performance of hearing impaired in noisy environments and data showing auditory areas can be recycled in hours to process tactile input of the various frequencies. Finally, expanding on his bidirectional research methodology, using brain research to inspire and create novel technologies, then using this technologies to study the human brain from a unique angle.
He will show implementations for this approach for reducing pain, anxiety and claustrophobia for the treatment of cancer patients using such non-invasive novel digital technology that is paired with more conventional treatments.
Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Amir Amedi. Donders Lectures - Prof. Healing via the brain and multisensory interactions: basic theory, brain imaging and applications.
