Event Calendar:

May 2012
	Mo	Tu	We	Th	Fr	Sa	Su
18	30	01	02	03	04	05	06
19	07	08	09	10	11	12	13
20	14	15	16	17	18	19	20
21	21	22	23	24	25	26	27
22	28	29	30	31	01	02	03

» All Events

Quick Links

Contact

Catherine Perrodin

Address:	Spemannstr. 38 72076 Tübingen
Room number:	232
Phone:	+49 7071 601 1701
Fax:	+49 7071 601 652
E-Mail:	catherine.perrodin

Catherine Perrodin

Position: PhD Student Unit: Logothetis Kayser

Overview
Projects
Curriculum Vitae
Publications

Communication is not restricted to human language: indeed, most primates use vocal and facial expressions for social interactions and survival. Like humans, nonhuman primates are able to extract and interpret vocal features to gain knowledge about the speaker, such as its species, identity, body size and emotional state. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies have identified brain areas dedicated to processing species-specific vocal signals (‘voice’ areas) in the anterior temporal lobe, and researchers have started to establish homologies between how the brains of primates process communication signals.

Nevertheless, it remains unclear how voices are represented at the neuronal level. My research applies extracellular electrophysiology targeting the ‘voice’ area to investigate the encoding of vocal features at the resolution of single neurons.

I study the neural representation of voices by: (a) evaluating the organization and auditory encoding properties of neurons in the ‘voice’ area and (b) investigating the multisensory influence of face information on voice processing in the context of audiovisual communication. These complementary approaches will provide an integrated perspective on the neuronal representation of voices in a dedicated auditory area, and extend our understanding of how the primate brain processes vocal communication signals.

Research interests:

- Electrophysiology

- Auditory and sensory processing

- Neuronal coding

- Communication signals

- Neural networks and microcircuits

- Autism

Neuronal selectivity for conspecific voices in an fMRI voice-sensitive cluster

A summary of this project: SAB report
A press release about our study
A review of our recent publication: http://f1000.com/13294011

Encoding of acoustic components of vocalizations

Encoding of higher-level vocal features

Multisensory interactions between voices and faces in the voice area

Catherine Perrodin

Education

Since April ’09	PhD candidate at the Graduate School of Neural and Behavioural Sciences, International Max Planck Research School, University of Tuebingen, Germany
Oct. ‘06 – Oct. ‘08	Master of Science (MSc) in Life Sciences and Technology (major: neuroscience), Swiss Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL)
Oct. ‘03- June ‘06	Bachelor of Science (BSc) in Life Sciences and Technology, Swiss Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL)
Aug. ‘00 - June ‘03	Bilingual high school (French-German), major: Latin, minor: physics, at the Gymnase Auguste Piccard, Lausanne, Switzerland

Research experience

Oct ’08 – present	PhD candidate at the Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics, (Pr. Nikos K. Logothetis), Tuebingen, Germany Project: The representation of communication signals at the neuronal level: an electrophysiological investigation of the ‘voice’ area Sponsors: Swiss National Science Fundation (SNSF), Max Planck Society
Sept. ’07 – Sept. -08	Master internship at the Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics (Pr. Nikos K. Logothetis), Tuebingen, Germany Sponsors: Max Planck Society, German Academic Exchange Office (DAAD) Master thesis: Multisensory integration of dynamic voices and faces in the monkey brain Investigation of neural responses to audiovisual stimuli of vocalizing conspecifics using extracellular electrophysiological recordings from the auditory cortex.
July – Sept. ‘06	EPFL Summer Research Program at the Laboratory of Neural Microcircuitry (Pr. Henry Markram) Participation supported by the Cluster Consortium fellowship. Project: Valproic acid-induced alterations of the microcircuitry of pyramidal neurons in the medial prefrontal cortex Study of neuronal connectivity, plasticity and intrinsic electrical properties in a rat model of autism using in vitro multi-electrode patch-clamping and extracellular stimulation
July – Sept. ‘04	Production and R&D internship, CIBA Vision, Atlanta, USA Polymer synthesis (GMP, distillation, ultra filtration, titrations), toxicology (cell culture, flow cytometry), infrared spectroscopy

Honors & Awards

December ’11	Fellowship for Prospective Researchers (12 months), awarded by the Swiss National Science Fundation (SNSF).
November ’10	NENS Stipend for Training Stay, Network of European Neuroscience Schools/Federation of European Neuroscience Societies (NENS/FENS).
November ’10	Travel award, Tucker-Davis Symposium on Advances and Perspectives in Auditory Neurophysiology (APAN 2010), San Diego, USA.
June ’09	Graduate student award, 10th International Multisensory Research Forum (IMRF 2009), New York City, USA
Oct. ’08	EPFL award for best neuroscience master thesis, EPFL, Switzerland
Mai-Sep. ’08	Research grant from the German Academic Exchange Office (DAAD)
June ‘06	Cluster Consortium award for excellent bachelor scores, demonstration of quality of entrepreneurship and enthusiasm in pursuing one’s curriculum, EPFL, Switzerland
July ‘03	Awards for best grades at high school graduation, for excellence in Latin, and for motivation and intellectual curiosity, Gymnase Auguste Piccard, Lausanne, Switzerland

Articles (2):
•	Perrodin C , Kayser C , Logothetis NK and Petkov C (August-2011) Voice Cells in the Primate Temporal Lobe Current Biology 21(16) 1408-1415.
•	Rinaldi T , Perrodin C and Markram H (October-2008) Hyper-connectivity and hyper-plasticity in the medial prefrontal cortex in the valproic acid animal model of autism Frontiers in Neural Circuits 2(4) 1-7.
Posters (3):
•	Perrodin C , Veit L , Kayser C , Logothetis NK and Petkov C (September-2009): Encoding properties of neurons sensitive to species-specific vocalizations in the anterior temporal lobe of primates, International Conference on Auditory Cortex, 3 123-124.
•	Perrodin C , Kayser C , Logothetis NK and Petkov C (September-2009): Visual influences on voice-selective neurons in the anterior superior-temporal plane, 3rd International Conference on Auditory Cortex, 3 125.
•	Rinaldi T , Perrodin C and Markram H (November-2007): Increased connectivity and long term potentiation in the prefrontal cortex of rats prenatally exposed to valproic acid, 37th Annual Meeting of the Society for Neuroscience (Neuroscience 2007), 37 1.
Talks (6):
•	Perrodin C (May-24-2012): Neuronal representation of communication signals in the primate voice area, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany.
•	Perrodin C (February-23-2012): Neuronal representation of communication signals in the primate voice area, Affective Neuropsychiatry, Department of General Psychiatry, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany.
•	Perrodin C , Kayser C , Logothetis NK and Petkov CI (November-2010): A brain region consisting of neurons with moderate sensitivity for voices, 40th Annual Meeting of the Society for Neuroscience (Neuroscience 2010), San Diego, CA, USA(125.3).
•	Perrodin C , Kayser C , Logothetis NK and Petkov CI (November-2010): Visual influences on voice-sensitive neurons, 40th Annual Meeting of the Society for Neuroscience (Neuroscience 2010), San Diego, CA, USA(125.4).
•	Perrodin C (July-7-2010): Visual influences on voice-sensitive neurons, Institute of Neuroscience, Newcastle University Medical School, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK.
•	Perrodin C , Kayser C , Logothetis NK and Petkov C (June-30-2009): Visual influences on voice-selective neurons in the anterior superior-temporal plane, 10th International Multisensory Research Forum (IMRF 2009), New York City, USA(539).