Dr Livia de Hoz

The environment surrounding each of us, is made of myriad of sounds, images or odours, in combinations that are continuously changing, often in predictable ways. Our brain readily detects and learns these patterns, often implicitly and independently of their immediate relevance. We believe that this statistical learning results from bidirectional interactions between sensory subcortical and cortical structures and that it facilitates the emergence of perception. 

Focusing on the auditory system, we study how cortico-subcortical loops detect, code, and learn patterns in the acoustic environment. We use a combination of behavioural paradigms, electrophysiology, and opto- and chemogenetic manipulations.

Current projects:

• cortico-colllicular loops and the statistics in background noise 
• cortico-thalamic loops in the learning of acoustic patterns 
• midbrain decoding of signal in noise 
• sound processing during sleep 
• cortico-hippocampal interactions in acoustic memory