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Picture this? Professor unveils = research on=20 'Jennifer Aniston Neuron'

World-class research on brain = function=20 described at public lecture on November 4, 5.30pm at = University of=20 Leicester

Issued on 28 October 2008

A leading neuroscientist and bio-engineer, whose research = was=20 recently cited among the top papers in the world, is to = reveal=20 details of his studies into what has been dubbed the = =E2=80=98Jennifer=20 Aniston neuron=E2=80=99 during a public presentation at the = University of=20 Leicester.

Professor Rodrigo Quian Quiroga discovered that a = remarkable type=20 of neuron in the brain fired in an = =E2=80=98abstract=E2=80=99 manner to completely=20 different pictures of familiar persons, for example Jennifer = Aniston=20 or Halle Berry.

He further discovered that given the firing of these = neurons, it=20 was possible to actually tell what the subjects were seeing = far=20 above chance =E2=80=93 they were literally reading the = mind.

Professor Quian Quiroga said: =E2=80=9COne of the major = scientific=20 challenges of our days is to understand how information is=20 represented by neurons in the brain. Although there has been = spectacular progress in the last few decades, we are still = far from=20 comprehending, for example, how visual inputs are processed = to=20 create a conscious perception. Our main research interest is = to=20 study these principles of Neural Coding. Moreover, since = complex=20 behaviour is encoded by the activity of large populations of = neurons, we are working on the development of advanced = methods to=20 extract useful information from these data.=E2=80=9D

Professor Quian Quiroga, of the Department of = Engineering, will=20 deliver his inaugural Professorial lecture on Tuesday 4 = November.=20 The lecture, The Jennifer Aniston neuron: How the brain = perceives=20 the world and forms new memories, is free and open to the = public. It=20 takes place in Lecture Theatre 1, Ken Edwards Building = starting at=20 5.30pm.

Professor Quian Quiroga said: =E2=80=9CI am examining how = information=20 about the external world (what we see, hear, touch) and our = own=20 internal representations (e.g. memories, emotions, etc.) is=20 represented by neurons in the brain.

=E2=80=9CFor example, we can easily recognize a person in = a fraction of a=20 second, even when seen from different angles, with different = sizes,=20 colours, contrasts and under strikingly different = conditions. But=20 how neurons in the brain are capable of creating such an = =E2=80=98abstract=E2=80=99=20 representation, disregarding basic visual details, is only = starting=20 to be known.=E2=80=9D

Professor Quian Quiroga will describe how his research = has high=20 clinical potential for the development of NeuroProsthetic = devices,=20 such as robotic arms driven by neural signals to be used by=20 paralyzed patients.

Professor Quian Quiroga=E2=80=99s discovery has = far-reaching implications=20 not only for the development of neuronal prostheses, but for = treatment of patients with pathologies involving the = hippocampal=20 formation, such as epilepsy, Alzheimers and schizophrenia = and for=20 further understanding of how perceptions and memories are=20 represented in the brain.

NOTE TO NEWSDESK:

Rodrigo Quian Quiroga =E2=80=93 Short = Biography

Rodrigo Quian Quiroga graduated in Physics at the = University of=20 Buenos Aires, Argentina, in 1993. After 2 years working at = the=20 Department of Physiology in the Institute for Neurological=20 Investigations =E2=80=93 FLENI, Argentina, and one further = year at the=20 Department of Epilepsy of the same institute, he moved to = Germany=20 and obtained his PhD in applied mathematics at the = University of=20 Luebeck in 1998. He was a post-doctoral fellow at the = Research=20 Center Juelich, Germany, from 1998 to 2001 and from 2001 to = 2004 he=20 was a Sloan fellow at the California Institute of = Technology, USA.=20 He was appointed as a Lecturer in Bioengineering at the = Department=20 of Engineering of the University of Leicester in 2004, was = promoted=20 to Reader in 2006 and to a personal chair in 2008.

Dr. Quian Quiroga main research focus is on Neuroscience = and the=20 analysis of electrophysiological data. This research = involves the=20 use and development of advanced methods of signal = processing. In=20 particular, he developed an automatic method for processing = the=20 neural data that is currently used by several = neurophysiology=20 laboratories. The use of this method allowed the finding of = a new=20 type of =E2=80=98abstract=E2=80=99 (e.g. Jennifer Aniston) = neurons in the human=20 brain that was published in Nature, obtained the first prize = at an=20 international meeting in 2005 in Madrid and received = world-wide=20 media attention, including articles in the New York Times,=20 Scientific American, Daily Mail, New Scientist, The = Independent,=20 etc. It has also been selected as one of the top 100 = scientific=20 stories of 2005 by Discover Magazine. In 2008, his follow-up = work in=20 this line of research was selected as one of the = =E2=80=9CBreaking news in=20 Neuroscience=E2=80=9D by the european Federation of = Neuroscience Societies=20 (fENS).

Dr. Quian Quiroga is a member of the editorial board of 3 = international journals. He acts as reviewer for several=20 international journals in the fields of Applied Mathematics, = Physics, Signal Analysis, Clinical Neurophysiology and = Neuroscience.=20 He has given more than 30 invited lectures in the last 3 = years, had=20 published more than 50 refereed journal papers and currently = holds 2=20 EPSRC grants, 1 MRC grant and 1 grant from the Royal = Society. He is=20 the head of the Bioengineering Research Group, at the = Department of=20 Engineering of the University of Leicester.

Contact:

Rodrigo Quian Quiroga

Department of Engineering, University of Leicester, LE1 = 7RH=20 Leicester, United Kingdom

Tel / Fax: +44 (0)116 252 2314 / 2619

email rqqg1@le.ac.uk

www.le.ac.uk/neuroengineeri= ng

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