One of the most enigmatic and arguably the hardest problems in neuroscience is to understand the biological basis of consciousness.  

　　Conscious visual perception has been postulated as a favorable form of consciousness to study, and has therefore, been the subject of scientific investigation. While much is known about the functional specialization pertaining to individual regions of the primate visual system, how this neural machinery together realizes subjective visual perception remains to be understood. Importantly, investigating how perception aids higher cognitive function is central to a holistic understanding of how brain produces behavior. Evidently, scrutinizing how the neural machinery, gives rise to visual perception and cognition, could also provide insights into a more general understanding of what is consciousness.  

　　Neural correlates of conscious visual perception in the primate brain 

　　Unravelling the neural substrates underlying visual perception is a major focus of the lab. We investigate this in the visual system of primates, while they participate in psychophysical paradigms. These paradigms are capable of inducing fluctuations in perception without a change in the sensory input, which enables disentangling sensory input from subjective perception. Together with this, we probe the primate brain with tools ranging from multi-electrode arrays to imaging in order to investigate brain-wide activity patterns and inter-regional interactions mediating perception. Our goal is to interrogate this question at multiple spatio-temporal scales, ranging from microscopic (single neuron) and mesoscopic (local field potential) to the macroscopic (functional imaging). In combination with analytical approaches derived from machine learning and dynamical systems, we aim to constrain computational models, and gain insights into the neural algorithms underlying visual perception. 

　　Disambiguating neural circuits underlying perception and cognition 

　　Brain structures such as the prefrontal cortex (PFC) are considered essential for mediating cognitive processes, which support the temporal organization of behavior. Therefore, a plethora of cognitive processes, such as behavioral planning, task monitoring, action selection and decision making are attributed to this region of the brain. Moreover, our previous work has further suggested that certain task related processes (trial phase) and conscious perception are mediated by functionally segregated populations in the PFC (Kapoor et al, 2018). While considered as confounds in the study of perception, such cognitive factors are important constituents enabling appropriate behavior. However, it remains unclear, if there are shared or separate neural architectures and computational principles, that underlie perceptual phenomena and cognitive function. Importantly, how different sub-regions of the PFC mediate such a multitude of functions in coordination with other brain regions remains yet to be understood. We aim to tackle this scientific problem, by designing perceptual paradigms, wherein behavior can be appropriately decomposed, so as to allow a systematic characterization of its underlying constituent cognitive variables. Combining this with theoretical approaches, could help understand the relationship and disentangling the neural mechanisms underlying perception from cognition. 

2007-02--2016-07   Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen   Neuroscience, Ph.D.

2004-08--2006-07   National Brain Research Centre   Neuroscience, Master

2001-08--2004-07   Jamia Millia Islamia University   Biotechnology, Bachelor

Dr. Vishal Kapoor is the head of the Laboratory of Neural Dynamics of Visual Perception and Cognition. He received his bachelor’s degree in Biotechnology (2004) from Jamia Millia Islamia University, and a master’s degree in Neuroscience (2006) from the National Brain Research Centre, India, where he investigated the inhibitory control of action in humans. In 2007, he joined the Department for Physiology of Cognitive Processes, at the Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics, Tuebingen, Germany, to pursue his doctoral degree, where his dissertation investigated the role of prefrontal cortex in conscious visual perception. He submitted his thesis in 2015, and received his PhD degree in Neuroscience (summa cum laude) from the Faculty of Science and Faculty of Medicine at the University of Tuebingen, Germany. Subsequently, he continued with his postdoctoral research at the Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics. In November, 2021, he joined the International Center for Primate Brain Research (ICPBR), Center for Excellence in Brain Science and Intelligence Technology (CEBSIT) of the Chinese Academy of Science (CAS). Research in his lab focuses on the neural mechanisms underlying conscious visual perception and cognition.

2021-11~Now, ICPBR, Lab of Neural Dynamics of Visual Perception and Cognition, PI. 

2016-07~2021-10,Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics, Postdoctoral researcher.

2006-08~2006-12,National Brain Research Centre, Neuroscience, Assistant research fellow.

1.      Dwarakanath A * , Kapoor V* , Werner J, Safavi S, Fedorov LA, Logothetis NK, Panagiotaropoulos TI. Bistability of prefrontal states gates access to consciousness. Neuron      (2023) 111, 1666-1683.

2.      Safavi S, Panagiotaropoulos TI, Kapoor V , Ramirez-Villegas JF, Logothetis NK, Besserve M.

Uncovering the organization of neural circuits with generalized phase locking analysis. PLOS Computational Biology (2023) 19(4): e1010983. 

3.      Hartig R, Klink PC, Polyakova Z, Dehaqani MA, Bondar I, Merchant H, Vanduffel W, Roe AW, Nambu A, Thirumala M, Shmuel A, Kapoor V , Gothard KM, Evrard HC, Basso MA, Petkov C , Mitchell AS. A framework and resource for global collaboration in non-human primate neuroscience. Current Research in Neurobiology (2023) 4, 2023, 100079. 

4.      Kapoor V * , Dwarakanath A * , Safavi S, Werner J, Besserve M, Panagiotaropoulos TI, Logothetis NK. Decoding internally generated transitions of conscious contents in the prefrontal cortex without subjective reports. Nature Communications (2022) 13, 1 535 . 

5.      Panagiotaropoulos TI, Dwarakanath A, Kapoor V.      Prefrontal Cortex and Consciousness: Beware of the Signals. Trends in Cognitive Sciences      24 (5), S. 343 - 344 (2020).

6.      Kapoor V , Besserve M, Logothetis NK, Panagiotaropoulos TI. Parallel and functionally segregated processing of task phase and conscious content in the prefrontal cortex. Communication Biology (2018) 1, 215. 

7.      Safavi S * , Dwarakanath A * , Kapoor V , Werner J, Hatsopoulos GN, Logothetis NK, Panagiotaropoulos TI. Non-monotonic spatial structure of interneuronal correlations in prefrontal microcircuits. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (2018) 115 (15) E3539-E3548.  

8.      Safavi S * ,      Kapoor V * , Logothetis NK and Panagiotaropoulos TI.      Is the frontal lobe involved in conscious perception? Frontiers in Psychology      (2014) 5(1063) 1-2. 

9.      Panagiotaropoulos TI,      Kapoor V      and Logothetis NK.      Subjective visual perception: From local processing to emergent phenomenon of brain activity. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society London B (2014) 369 (1641) 1-13.   

10.      Panagiotaropoulos TI,      Kapoor V      and Logothetis NK (September-2013).      Desynchronization and rebound of beta oscillations during conscious and unconscious local neuronal processing in the macaque lateral prefrontal cortex. Frontiers in Psychology (2013) 4 (603) 1-10.  

11.      Kapoor V , Krampe E , Klug A , Logothetis NK and Panagiotaropoulos TI. Development of Tube Tetrodes and a Multi-Tetrode Drive for deep structure electrophysiological recordings in the macaque brain. Journal of Neuroscience Methods (2013) 216(1)  4 3 – 48.  

12.      Panagiotaropoulos TI , Kapoor V , Logothetis NK and Deco G. A Common Neurodynamical Mechanism Could Mediate Externally Induced and Intrinsically Generated Transitions in Visual Awareness. PLoS ONE      (2013) 8(1)  1-10. 

13.      Panagiotaropoulos TI  * , Deco G * , Kapoor V      and Logothetis NK. Neuronal discharges and gamma oscillations explicitly reflect conscious visual perception in the lateral prefrontal cortex. Neuron      (2012) 74(5)  924–935 . 

14.      Theodoni P , Panagiotaropoulos TI * , Kapoor V * , Logothetis NK and Deco G. Cortical microcircuit dynamics mediating binocular rivalry: the role of adaptation in inhibition. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience      (2011) 5(145) 1-19.

15.      Ray S, Bhutani N, Kapoor V    and Murthy A . Trans-saccadic processing of visual and motor planning during sequential eye movements. Experimental Brain Research      (2011) 215(1) 13-25.

16.      Kapoor V    and Murthy A . Covert inhibition potentiates online control in a double-step task. Journal of Vision      (2008) 8(1:20) 1-16.

现指导学生

魏琪昌  硕士研究生  071006-神经生物学  

• 071006-Neurobiology

• 0710Z2-Computational Biology

• Perception and cognition

• Neural mechanisms underlying conscious