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2 months ago | 
thetransmitter.org | Grace Lindsay |Mark Humphries |Ben Scott |Matthew G. Perich
From focused ultrasound to nonhuman primate optogenetics, the tools for controlling neural activity are growing rapidly. It is common for neuroscientists, when given the means to perturb components of the nervous system, to make claims about which of these components are either necessary or sufficient for different functions. To prove necessity, neuroscientists inactivate the component and show that the function fails to manifest.
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Oct 5, 2024 | 
biorxiv.org | Olivier Codol |Guillaume Lajoie |Matthew G. Perich |Nanda H. Krishna
AbstractDuring development, neural circuits are shaped continuously as we learn to control our bodies. The ultimate goal of this process is to produce neural dynamics that enable the rich repertoire of behaviors we perform with our limbs. What begins as a series of "babbles" coalesces into skilled motor output as the brain rapidly learns to control the body. However, the nature of the teaching signal underlying this normative learning process remains elusive.
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Oct 3, 2024 | 
thetransmitter.org | Holly Barker |Jill Adams |Emily Willingham |Matthew G. Perich
Despite the huge variation in how autistic people experience the condition, they can be divided into just four subgroups, according to a preprint. The people in these groups—who share similar traits and life outcomes—carry gene variants that implicate distinct biological pathways, the researchers found. Each group is associated with specific genetic variants that influence gene expression at different stages of development, the investigation revealed.
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Oct 2, 2024 | 
thetransmitter.org | Matthew G. Perich |Nancy Padilla-Coreano |Mark Humphries |Jill Adams
Assistant professor of neuroscienceUniversity of Montreal Share this article: Tags: Neural dynamics, Computational neuroscience, dimensionality reduction, manifolds, Systems neuroscience The diversity of behaviors across the animal kingdom is staggering, from feats of agility to nuanced social interactions. Ultimately, these complex behaviors arise from the chatter of neurons, and cracking their “code” has driven systems neuroscience for decades.
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Oct 1, 2024 | 
thetransmitter.org | Matthew G. Perich |Jill Adams |Brady Huggett |Nancy Padilla-Coreano
Matthew G. Perich is assistant professor of neuroscience at the University of Montreal and an associate member of Mila, the Quebec Artificial Intelligence (AI) Institute. His lab’s research spans neurophysiology experiments, computational neuroscience and AI to uncover neural principles driving behavior across the animal kingdom. Perich earned his Ph.D. from Northwestern University, studying cortical control of movement in monkeys in Lee Miller’s lab.
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Jul 30, 2024 | 
biorxiv.org | Matthew G. Perich |Sara Conti |Marion Badi |Andrew Bogaard
AbstractBehavior relies on continuous influx of sensory information about the body. In primates, motor cortex must integrate somatic feedback to accurately reach and manipulate objects. Yet, prior work demonstrates that motor cortex is well-described with deterministic, rather than input-driven, dynamics. Deterministic dynamics facilitate robust movement generation, but flexible motor output requires rapid responses to unexpected inputs.
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Jul 24, 2024 | 
jneurosci.org | Andrea Rodriguez |Andrea Rodríguez |Matthew G. Perich |Lee Miller |Mark Humphries
AbstractThe fluid movement of an arm requires multiple spatiotemporal parameters to be set independently. Recent studies have argued that arm movements are generated by the collective dynamics of neurons in motor cortex. An untested prediction of this hypothesis is that independent parameters of movement must map to independent components of the neural dynamics.
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May 17, 2024 | 
biorxiv.org | Andrea Rodriguez |Andrea Rodríguez |Matthew G. Perich |Lee Miller |Mark Humphries
AbstractThe fluid movement of an arm requires multiple spatiotemporal parameters to be set independently. Recent studies have argued that arm movements are generated by the collective dynamics of neurons in motor cortex. An untested prediction of this hypothesis is that independent parameters of movement must map to independent components of the neural dynamics.
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May 13, 2024 | 
nature.com | Matthew G. Perich |Lee Miller |Juan A. Gallego
AbstractAnimals can quickly adapt learned movements to external perturbations, and their existing motor repertoire likely influences their ease of adaptation. Long-term learning causes lasting changes in neural connectivity, which shapes the activity patterns that can be produced during adaptation.
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Nov 8, 2023 | 
nature.com | Mostafa Safaie |Joanna Chang |Lee Miller |Joshua T. Dudman |Matthew G. Perich
AbstractAnimals of the same species exhibit similar behaviours that are advantageously adapted to their body and environment. These behaviours are shaped at the species level by selection pressures over evolutionary timescales. Yet, it remains unclear how these common behavioural adaptations emerge from the idiosyncratic neural circuitry of each individual.
