Michael-Paul Schallmo

In collaboration with my advisor Dr. Cheryl Olman and fellow grad student Cheng Qiu, I'm currently working on developing experiments that will examine the laminar profile of early visual processing. Using ultra high resolution fMRI at 7 Tesla in combination with psychophysics, we aim to elucidate the mechanisms by which visual cortex computes local stimulus contrast.

In collaboration with Dr. Scott Sponheim's lab at the Minneapolis VA, Cheryl and I have also been working on psychophysics experiments aimed at understanding how low-level visual processing might be affected in schizophrenia. Two of the mechanisms we are currently studying are (orientation dependent) surround suppression, and orientation tuning.

In addition, I have been working with Cheryl and Scott on a project focused on understanding abnormal contextual modulation mechanisms in early visual cortex in patients with schizophrenia. Specifically, we are using fMRI, NMR spectroscopy, and psychophysics in order to understand the neural correlates of contour detection abnormalities in this disorder.

Ph.D. Candidate
Graduate Program in Neuroscience
University of Minnesota

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