V1 to Broca’s Chronicle

This project aimed to provide the first ‘end-to-end’ chronicle of neuronal computation for language production, specifically from entry into the cortex of perceptual information about words via early visual areas (during reading), to exit from the cortex of the speech plan via motor cortex.

I applied the high temporal and physiological resolution of ICE to the whole of the language-associated network as previously identified with fMRI. The patients here had a broader coverage of electrodes than previous patients, so I was able to address aspects of the task from vision to speech. I use this end-to-end approach to ask (a) when each region first comes online, from ~V1 to Broca’s area, (b) if each region can act as multiple computational entities over time (as I discovered is possible within Broca’s area), (c) if activity is strictly feed-forward and sequential, or evidences feedback, and (d) whether dynamics across the network hint at mechanisms for solving the problem of binding the disparate types of information likely computed by each region/entity.

Manuscripts coming soon..