This laboratory investigates the mechanisms that allow single neurons and assemblies of neurons to identify sensory input, to remember it and to make decisions. We record from isolated single neurons (often more than one at a time) in high level visual cortical and association areas of nonhuman primates while the animals work in various visual memory tasks. Experiments and analyses attempt to understand how the activity of the neuron(s) can explain the behavior. Current projects include:

1) An effort to understand how saccadic eye movements (the large, fast eye movements that reposition gaze) and control processes tied to those saccadic eye movements modulate the attentional and mnemonic mechanisms seen in single neuron spike records.

2) An investigation into the neural mechanism underlying visual recognition memory. A candidate mechanism has been previously identified; we have now developed a technique allowing us to eliminate this mechanism, and are now testing if, without this mechanism, behavioral level recognition memory is impaired.

Sobotka, S., Diltz, M.D., and Ringo, J.L., 2004, Can Delay Period Activity Explain Working Memory? Journal of Neurophysiology, Aug 10.1152/jn01002.2003

Sobotka, S., Wei, Z. and Ringo, J.L., 2002, Is the Functional Connectivity Within Temporal Lobe Influenced By Saccadic Eye Movements?. Journal of Neurophysiology, Oct. 88: 1675-168

Nowicka, A. and Ringo J.L. 2000, Eye position-sensitive units in hippocampal formation and in inferotemporal cortex of the Macaque monkey. Euro. J. Neurosci., v12: 751-759.

Sobotka, S., Nowicka, A., and Ringo, J.L.. 1997, Activity linked to externally cued saccades in single units recorded from Hippocampal, parahippocampal and inferotemporal areas of maxawues. Journal of Neurophysiology.78:2158-2163

Ringo, J.L., and Diltz, MD. 1997, Evidence that actice memory is used in the retention of highly familiar stimuli. In revision (invited) for Experimental Brain Research.

Sobotka, S., and Ringo, J.L. 1997, Saccadic eye movements, even in darkness, generate event-related potentials in medial septum and medial temporal cortex. Brain Research, 756:168-173.

Ringo, J.L., 1996, Stimulus specific adaptation in inferior temporal and medial temporal cortex of the monkey. Behavorial Brain Research. 76:191-197

Sobotka, S., Ringo, J.L., 1996, Mnemonic responses of single units recorded from monkey inferotemporal cortex, and accessed via transcommissural versus direct pathways: A dissociation between unit activity and behavior. Journal of Neuroscience, 16:4222- 4230.

Ringo, J.L., 1995, Brevity of processing in a mnemonic task. Journal of Neurophysiology, 73:1712-1715.