Nakamoto Brain Research Institute

The Nakamoto Brain Research Institute performs research on how emotion, memory and decisions are represented by the activity of single neurons in the human brain. Using recordings gathered during experiments with epilepsy patients who have implanted electrodes, we are able to detect the firing of single neurons in the conscious human brain. Correlating changes in this firing with the patients' thoughts provides an unprecedented view of the operation of the human brain at the level of its' fundamental computational units - single neurons.

Research

Data and Discoveries

The NBRI is presently analyzing data recorded in the former Brain Modeling Laboratory at the Barrow Neurological Institute as well data from collaborators in other laboratories. Major discoveries have included our description of the distributed representation of visual objects and episodic memory, as well as the effects of low-level image properties like brightness on the firing rates of neurons in the human hippocampus and amygdala.

Research Areas

Current focus areas at the NBRI are human memory and spike sorting in recordings obtained in electrically noisy clinical environments. Emphasis at the NBRI is placed on accurate and statistically correct analysis as well developing quantitative descriptions of population activity.

Director

Peter N. Steinmetz, M.D., Ph.D.

Dr. Steinmetz founded the Nakamoto Brain Research Institute in 2015 to facilitate the analysis and publication of over 2.0 TB of data from human single unit recordings that was gathered in his laboratory at the Barrow Neurological Institute between 2006 and 2015.

After completing his M.D. and Ph.D. at Johns Hopkins University Medical School, Dr. Steinmetz completed two post-doctoral fellowships for training in computational neuroscience and human single neuron recording. Since that time he has focused his research efforts on this type of recording with a focus on the statistically accurate analysis and interpretation of results from these experiments. Since 2006 he has published over 9 peer-reviewed publications on both the cognitive neuroscience and technical aspects of these recordings.

He also collaborates with several laboratories around the world performing this type of recording to further advance the field.

Collaborators

The Nakamoto Brain Research Institute is privileged to collaborate with leaders in the fields of cognitive neuroscience and human single neuron recording:

Ralph Adolphs, California Institute of Technology
Stephen Goldinger, Arizona State University
Luiz Pessoa, University of Maryland, College Park
Larry Squire, Univerisity of California, San Diego
John Wixted, Univerity of California, San Diego