Feindel Brain and Mind Seminar Series - September 23

Research Associate, Ernst Strüngmann Institute for Neuroscience, Germany

Research Associate, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Germany

Steps Towards Laminar Resolution in Non-invasive Human Electrophysiology

Abstract: Advances in neuroimaging and electrophysiology have enabled non-invasive investigation of human brain function at increasingly fine spatial scales. I present three interconnected research projects towards achieving laminar resolution in non-invasive human electrophysiology. First, I demonstrate how myelin-informed forward models derived from high-resolution quantitative MRI enhance MEG/EEG source reconstruction. Second, building on this structural-functional relationship, I examine the microstructural foundations of cortical speech tracking. By leveraging high-resolution cortical myelination maps, this approach offers insights into the potential laminar origins of low-frequency auditory activity and top-down modulatory signals during speech perception. Finally, I present a simulation study that investigates the potential of optically pumped magnetometers (OPMs) for inferring laminar origins of MEG signals, demonstrating the benefits of on-scalp sensors for laminar inference. These complementary approaches aim to push the boundaries of spatial resolution in non-invasive electrophysiology, offering new perspectives on cortical layer-specific activity and structure-function relationships in the human brain.

Bio: Saskia Helbling has an interdisciplinary background in Bioinformatics and Computational Neuroscience. After completing her PhD at Goethe University, Frankfurt, she joined the MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit in Cambridge to study cortical speech tracking at different speech rates. She then took up a role as a postdoctoral researcher with Nikolaus Weiskopf at the MPI for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences in Leipzig, where she worked on several projects using quantitative MRI (qMRI) to non-invasively probe the cortical microstructure in a laminar-specific manner. Saskia later joined David Poeppel’s lab, first at the MPI for Empirical Aesthetics, and now at the Ernst Strüngmann Institute for Neuroscience. Her research focuses on improving the resolution of MEG/EEG source reconstruction with on-scalp OPM-MEG sensors and myelin estimates from quantitative MRI, as well as studying the microstructural underpinnings of speech tracking.

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