Intrinsic neural timescales - spatiotemporal approach to consciousness

Speaker: Georg Northoff

Venue: Zhonglan Lecture Hall, School of Medicine, Zijingang Campus

Abstract: Neural activities in the human brain exhibit multiple different timescales, such as the duration of neural information processing, which are referred to as Intrinsic Neural Timescales (INT).   Previous studies have found that INT display a hierarchical topological structure in the human brain, ranging from sensory regions to higher-order cognitive regions. However, the specific mechanisms by which INT contribute to consciousness remain to be further elucidated. This talk will introduce the spatial topological characteristics of INT in the brain and their roles in levels of consciousness, states of consciousness, and contents of consciousness. In addition, the talk will also incorporate computational modeling studies to demonstrate the key role of intra-regional recurrent processing in shaping INT.