Vadim Petruk
Ph.D. 2017
E-MAIL: [email protected]
Thesis Title:
Neural mechanisms of binocular rivalry revealed by oscillatory signals in the electroencephalogram
Current Position:
Data Scientist, Edmentum
Undergraduate Institution and Major:
Iowa State University, B.S. in Chemical Engineering, 2012
Graduate Advisor:
Thesis Committee Members:
- Geoff Ghose, Ph.D., Department of Neuroscience (Chair)
- Matthew Chafee, Ph.D., Department Psychology
- Steve Engel, Ph.D., Department of Psychology
- Bin He, Ph.D., Department of Biomedical Engineering
- Sheng He, Ph.D., Department of Psychology
Description of Graduate Research:
My primary interest is in investigating the neural systems involved in visual perception. I study a paradigm called binocular rivalry, which involves sensory competition of visual inputs that are incompatible. Through the vacillating response patterns of the neurons in visual cortex we can identify what internal dynamics are generated by the brain to produce stabilized visual percepts, and what competitive processes are involved in changing them. In healthy human subjects I use EEG and fMRI to assess the dynamic patterns of activation that are a result of the activity in large scale neural ensembles. Specifically, I have been investigating how natural oscillatory bands in the EEG are organized in relation to competing perceptual states in binocular rivalry. Recent advancements in oscillatory EEG activity are becoming increasingly suggestive of a role for theta, alpha, beta, and gamma oscillatory networks in perception, so my goal is to identify specific functions for each of these bands in the dynamics of binocular rivalry.
Graduate Publications:
Petruk V, He B, Engel S, He S. Stimulus rivalry and binocular rivalry share a common neural substrate. J Vis. 2018;18:18. doi:10.1167/18.9.18.
Research Categories:
- Behavioral and Cognitive Neuroscience
- Computational Neuroscience
- Neuroimaging and Optogenetics
- Visual Neuroscience
Graduate Level Awards and Honors:
- NSF IGERT Systems Neuroengineering Fellowship, 2013
Rotations:
- Sheng He, Ph.D., Department of Psychology
- Steve Engel, Ph.D., Department of Psychology
- David Redish, Ph.D., Department of Neuroscience
- Apostolos Georgopoulos, M.D., Ph.D., Department of Neuroscience
Professional Outreach:
- Neuroscience at the State Fair
- IGERT Neuroengineering Outreach at the Bakken Museum
Internships:
- 3M, St. Paul, Minnesota, 2017.
- Research Project (Wolf Singer Lab in Frankfurt, Germany), Investigating a role for NFB trained gamma oscillations in visual cortex on perceptual discrimination, Summer 2015
