Chen Xing

Research assistant

Primary Supervisor: Alex Thiele
Research group: Visual neuroscience

  • Email: x.chen1@ncl.ac.uk
  • Telephone: +44(0)191 222 6255
  • Address:
    Institute of Neuroscience
    Henry Wellcome Building for Neuroecology
    Newcastle University,
    Framlington Place,
    Newcastle upon Tyne
    NE2 4HH

Research interests:

Neuronal correlates of perceptual learning in macaque V1 and V4.

How, during long-term exposure to visual stimuli, and through continuous practice, does brain activity and connectivity change, and allow us to get gradually better at making fine perceptual discriminations? I use chronically-implanted electrodes to record from different regions of the visual cortex, to understand how the dynamic between functionally-distinct areas evolves over time.

As my subjects practice a contrast discrimination task, I look at how attention and reward mechanisms feed into the visual pathway, shaping its development, and tailoring neuronal changes to overall priorities and behavioural goals.

I also study feature-selective attention in middle temporal cortex, quantifying modulations in activity that occur when one concentrates on identifying the colour of an object, as opposed to when one attends to its direction of motion.

Publications:

Xing Chen, Klaus Peter Hoffmann, Thomas D. Albright, and Alexander Thiele. "Effect of feature-selective attention on neuronal responses in macaque area MT." J Neurophysiol jn.01042.2010; Epublished ahead of print December 14, 2011, doi:10.1152/jn.01042.2010.

Education:

2008 B.A. in Neuroscience, University of Southern California, USA, Honors in Multimedia

Research experience:

Sep 2007-May 2008 PI: Richard F. Thompson
Neuroscience Research Institute, USC
Role of the cerebellum in classical conditioning of discrete responses in mice

Fall 2006 PI: Caleb Finch
Andrus School of Gerontology, USC
Effects of astrocytic GFAP on neurite growth

June-August 2006 PI: Cao Xin Min
Institute of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Biopolis, Singapore
Ca2+-dependent NFAT activity and signal transduction in the mitochondrial respiratory chain

Awards and bursaries:

2008-present PhD studentship, Medical Research Council (Newcastle University)
2008 Discovery Scholar, University of Southern California
2008 Global Scholar, University of Southern California
Summer 2007 Gold Family Scholarship
2004-2008 Trustee Scholar (full tuition scholarship), University of Southern California
2004-2008 Scholar, Media Development Authority of Singapore