How we perceive the world, the great unknown in neuroscience

Leopoldo Petreanu

Fundação Champalimaud, Portugal

The human brain constantly interprets the surroundings to plan and guide its actions. Perceptions arise from the combination of external sensory stimuli, at times incomplete, and previous expectations and experiences.

Scientists do not know the neural network of the brain where previously made predictions are stored and how these are combined to perceive new sensory stimuli from the outside world. The lack of knowledge about the functioning of neuronal connections of sensory perception is one of the major unanswered questions of neuroscience.

The project analyzes how this process arises from the brain’s neuronal networks, specifically the neo-cortex, the most external part of the brain where the most sophisticated cognitive abilities reside.

The aim is to study this structure and its neuronal networks in order to better understand brain dysfunctions, such as why people with schizophrenia or autism disorders have deficient predictive abilities.

Optical dissection of cortical circuits for sensory expectations

€499,708