Author ORCID Identifier

0000-0002-4632-1403

Date of Graduation

12-2025

Document Type

Thesis (MS)

Program Affiliation

Neuroscience

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Advisor/Committee Chair

Nitin Tandon

Committee Member

Michael Beierlein

Committee Member

Simon Fischer-Baum

Committee Member

Valentin Dragoi

Committee Member

Xaq Pitkow

Abstract

Flexible cognition enables humans to adapt their behavior to changing circumstances by prioritizing relevant information and filtering out distractions. This process is thought to be supported by the integration of ongoing behavioral goals with incoming sensory information, but how this integration is realized in the human brain remains unclear. It is unknown how high-order sensory cortices can balance specialized processing with flexible integration of changing behavioral goals. In the following investigations, we use intracranial EEG (iEEG) recordings in humans to study the neural dynamics of flexible cognition during high-order sensory processing. First, we validated assumptions about the locality of iEEG signals and clarified how electrode type, referencing scheme, and filtered frequency influence electrode listening zone. Next, we applied these methods, in combination with cortical stimulation mapping, to reveal a mosaic of broadband gamma activation (BGA) for music and language within the superior temporal gyrus. Finally, we examined local and inter-areal directed communication to characterize frontoparietal and fusiform network dynamics underlying flexible attention to visual objects. By studying how BGA indexes flexible cognition for auditory and visual stimuli, we provide novel insight into how dynamics within high-order sensory and frontoparietal attentional networks support adaptive, goal-directed behavior.

Keywords

Attention, Object recognition, cognition, human intracranial

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