The 125th Youth Academic Salon of CBEIS was held on the afternoon of December 18, 2020. Dr. Zhang Jianfeng from CBEIS, Zhejiang University gave a report to the students. He is a member of Associate Professor Ding Nai’s group, and is expertized in the field of the neural mechanisms of speech perception and the physiological mechanisms of global signals in fMRI.
From December 2019 to September 2020, Dr. Zhang Jianfeng conducted a nine-month joint training program in Prof. Georg Northoff's lab at the Royal Centre for Mental Health at University of Ottawa through the CSC National Governmental Student Program. His project was to study the physiological significance of global signals in the brain. By analyzing fMRI data from the resting and task states of 1,000 people in the Human Brain Connectivity Project (HCP), he found that there is a specific spatial distribution of global signals on the cortex. Moreover, this spatial distribution can be modulated by cognitive tasks. Finally, this modulation mechanism reflects the dynamic change of the coupling relationship between the brain network and global signals. This work, recently published in PLoS Biology, reveals the significance of global signal in physiological functions and provides important guidance for fMRI methodologies.
In addition to the introduction of the above topics, Dr. Zhang Jianfeng also shared his experience in Canada and had a heated discussion on the related academic issues with the students.
