Why Do Primates Have View Cells Instead of Place Cells?
Julio Martinez-Trujillo, MD, PhD
Full Professor
Provincial Endowed Academic Chair in Autism
Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry
Departments of Physiology & Pharmacology, and Psychology
Western University
Martinez-Trujillo’s research investigates the role of the primate prefrontal cortex and associated brain regions in intelligent behavior (cognition). He uses a series of techniques, such as electrophysiology, behavioral measurements, imaging and molecular biology, to measure and manipulate brain activity during complex cognitive tasks.
The Cognitive Neurophysiology Laboratory headed by Martinez-Trujillo is particularly interested in isolating the brain mechanisms underlying selective attention and working memory. These two functions are largely responsible for our performance in most tasks.
Research interests include:
- Neurophysiological bases of attention
- Neural mechanisms of working memory
- Pathophysiology of autism spectrum disorders
- Cell types of the primate neocortex