CHBH Seminar Series: Professor Kepa Paz-Alonso

In-person: Gisbert Kapp NG16

Online: Zoom - join here

We are delighted to announce the CHBH and CHBH PI Enrico Amico will welcome Kepa Paz-Alonso, Ikerbasque Research Professor at the Basque Center on Cognition, Brain and Language, to present a hybrid CHBH Seminar on Thalamocortical Networks in Human Cognition.

CHBH Host: Dr Enrico Amico

If you are interested in meeting with the seminar speaker during their visit please contact the CHBH host above.

Thalamocortical Networks in Human Cognition

Throughout evolution, the expansion of the neocortex has been associated with the emergence of higher-order cognitive functions, such as reasoning, working memory, and language. The thalamus has extensive reciprocal structural connections with virtually the entire cerebral cortex and has undergone an evolutionary expansion parallel to that of the neocortex. Cognitive neuroscience has traditionally focused on the cerebral cortex, but current theoretical accounts indicate that cortical functioning cannot be fully understood without considering thalamic interactions. Increasing evidence suggests that thalamocortical circuits play a fundamental role in coordinating communication across cortical regions and supporting complex cognition. Therefore, achieving a comprehensive understanding of the neural basis of cognition requires a deeper appreciation of the thalamus and its interactions with the cerebral cortex.

In this talk, I will present research conducted by our group over the past 10 years aimed at developing MRI tools and protocols to study thalamocortical networks in humans, as well as the results of our initial efforts to further understand the role of thalamocortical interactions in language and memory, as well as in health and disease.

Professor Kepa Paz-Alonso

Kepa Paz-Alonso is an Ikerbasque Research Professor and Group Leader at the Basque Center on Cognition, Brain and Language (BCBL, Spain). His research uses behavioral, functional, and structural MRI methods to investigate the neural mechanisms underlying higher cognitive functions in different lifespan periods, with a particular focus on language and memory. Also, he and his research group have developed over the last few years MRI tools and protocols to characterize the role of thalamocortical networks in cognition. Kepa is also one of the trustees of the Severo Ochoa grant for centers of excellence, awarded twice to the BCBL, and a scientific manager at the Spanish National Research State Agency. He was trained at the Center for Mind and Brain (University of California, Davis) and the Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute (University of California, Berkeley).