# Neurobiology and dynamics of Active Sensing

> **NIH NIH P50** · COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY HEALTH SCIENCES · 2020 · $1,786,921

## Abstract

ABSTRACT: Two key principles define the core conceptual framework of our Conte Center. First, most
sensory input is actively acquired by a motor and/or attentional sampling routine; e.g., rather than staring
blankly and hoping that something will “fall” into our gaze, we Actively Scan the visible environment with eye
movements. Even when fixating, we can actively (albeit covertly) scan the environment by shifting attention.
Corresponding “scanning” of the auditory environment uses the more covert attentional sampling strategy, but
is no less active. As a result, Active Sensing (i.e., strategic, goal-driven sampling of inputs) is “predictive” in
that, it is guided by the subject's expectations (theories, models), accumulated through species' evolution, and
refined by individuals' experience. Its central tenet is that sensing and perceiving can be fully understood only
in the context of subjects' ongoing, goal-directed information-gathering activities. Second, neuronal oscillatory
dynamics are critical mechanistic components of normal brain operation. Neuronal oscillations reflect
rhythmic fluctuations of neuron ensembles between high and low excitability states. Mounting evidence
indicates that such rhythmic activity is essential to normal brain operations, and that its disruption contributes
to neuropsychiatric disorders. The idea that Active Sensing incorporates neuronal rhythms as fundamental
instruments of operation represents an ongoing paradigm shift in systems neuroscience. Our Center is unified
by support Cores and a set of mechanistic (linking) hypotheses concerning the “instrumental” functions of
neuronal rhythms at local and network scales. The Center integrates electrocorticographic (ECoG) studies in
humans with intracortical recordings in monkeys and computational modeling. Our Specific Aims are: AIM 1 –
Exploit ECoG's strengths of distributed sampling and direct human brain recording to define dynamical circuits
of top-down control and coordination across cortical areas in Active Sensing. To gain a sample size
appropriate for our purposes, we will pool subjects across 5 surgical epilepsy centers using a common set of
Active Sensing tasks, and a common data format. AIM 2 – Use recordings in nonhuman primates to elucidate
and extend ECoG findings in humans. Laminar field potential (FP), current source density (CSD) and multiunit
activity (MUA) profiles, along with single unit recordings will be obtained from monkeys performing tasks
identical to those studied in humans. AIM 3 – Develop iterative interactions between computational and
empirical studies of circuit dynamics at local (cell assembly) and global (brain network) levels. Tracking specific
neuronal dynamics from the global-network level in humans down to the cellular and cell ensemble levels in
monkeys will yield novel and unique insights into mechanisms of active brain operation. Statistical and
Computational modeling will allow rapid exploration of possibilities suggested by ...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9940888
- **Project number:** 5P50MH109429-04
- **Recipient organization:** COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY HEALTH SCIENCES
- **Principal Investigator:** CHARLES E SCHROEDER
- **Activity code:** P50 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $1,786,921
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2017-04-15 → 2022-03-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9940888

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9940888, Neurobiology and dynamics of Active Sensing (5P50MH109429-04). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-26 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9940888. Licensed CC0.

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