Seminars organized by ICI-CCBS: “Prefrontal information processing and novel neural stimulation approach”

Institute of Collaborative Innovation-Centre for Cognitive and Brain Sciences invited Prof. Yang Zhan, Leader of the Brain Science Center with Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology, to give a talk entitled “Prefrontal information processing and novel neural stimulation approach” on 3 Jan. 2020.

The background of the seminar “Prefrontal information processing and novel neural stimulation approach” is that social behavior is a complex behavior with preference towards familiar individuals as opposed to strangers. At the seminar, Prof. Yang Zhan provided an overview of finding of his group, that social stimuli are represented by the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) and Familiar and novel social stimuli elicit selective mPFC neural response and their responses. Moreover, social information can transmit through mPFC-thalamic pathway and mPFC-thalamic neural synchronization is dependent on the downstream thalamic area. Prof. Yang Zhan presents another social defeat paradigm that his group examined an mPFC-brainstem pathway with mPFC downstream target in the periaqueductal gray (PAG) and found a decreased mPFC-PAG neural synchronization after social defeat. Prof. Yang Zhan concludes that mPFC-subcortical pathways modulate different aspects of social behavior through synchronized neural activities. Furthermore, Prof. Yang Zhan fabricated novel triboelectric nanogenerator device and have applied the device for neural stimulation in collaboration with material scientists and demonstrated this novel application in olfactory substitution and neural stimulation with self-powered and electronic-skin flexible materials.

The lecture attracted many scholars and students from the University of Macau. During the Q&A session, the participants exchanged ideas and warmly academic discussions.