|
|
|
|
The lab studies the cognitive processes underlying the mind, using a combination of behavioral and electrophysiological tools. One line of research investigates the neuroplasticity that underlies sensory discrimination learning, a key area of science that triggered the neuroplasticity revolution. Another investigates the neural basis of working memory in the lateral prefrontal cortex. Other areas of interest include the neural coding of perceptions, particularly the coding of stimulus magnitude, focal hand dystonia, the mechanisms responsible for age-related cognitive decline, and others. If people are interested in postdoctoral training in these areas, please contact me.
|
 |
Examples from recent work
|
Cortical implants were used to monitor dozens of sites in a 4 sq
mm area of primary auditory cortex of a non-human primate
throughout the learning process. Responses to tone stimuli were
collected each day prior to behavior. Spike responses were summed
across all electrodes, and the average activity in the first 30
milliseconds of the response plotted versus day for the frequency
ranges corresponding to task targets, task standards, and
task-irrelevant control stimuli. A two to three fold increase in
cortical responsiveness, with some preference for task targets,
emerges across the first two days after task acquisition. The
behavior is a simple frequency discrimination. Details in Blake et
al 2002
|
 |
|
|
|
Receptive fields recorded manually from the same electrode
across each day of behavioral training. The area of skin from
which a response to a just visible skin indentation is included
in the receptive field. Each week of fields are overlaid. An
interval discrimination behavior was started, and receptive
fields sampled from this electrode, and on average, more than
doubled in the weeks after task initiation compared to the weeks
prior, and on some days included areas on multiple digits. Also, the location of the most sensitive position in the receptive field was not altered by training. Details in Blake
et al 2005
|
|
Assistant Professor, Department of Neurology
Center for Synapses and Cognitive Neuroscience
Email: dblake AT mcg.edu
Phone: 706-721-9399
Fax: 706-434-6162
Mail: 1120 15th St CB-2803
Augusta, GA, 30912
PhD: Johns Hopkins Medical School, 1990-1995, with Ken Johnson and Steve Hsiao.
Postdoctoral training: Michael Merzenich, UCSF
Current funding:
R01 NINDS Neural Basis of Learning a Sensory Discrimination
Role: PI
Through 2011
R21 NIMH Cholinergic influences on prefrontal cortical activity during cognitive function
Role: co-PI (Constantinidis PI)
Through 2010
Search
blake dt on Pubmed
Search
Blake DT at Google Scholar
Blake
Neurotree entry
|
