Learning in/about/from the basal ganglia
Schedule
Wednesday, May 25, 2022
05:00 UTC
Jonathan Rubin
University of Pittsburgh
Host: van Vreeswijk TNS
Recording
Open recording
Event Information
Recording
Available
Host
van Vreeswijk TNS
Duration
70 minutes
Abstract
The basal ganglia are a collection of brain areas that are connected by a variety of synaptic pathways and are a site of significant reward-related dopamine release. These properties suggest a possible role for the basal ganglia in action selection, guided by reinforcement learning. In this talk, I will discuss a framework for how this function might be performed and computational results using an upward mapping to identify putative low-dimensional control ensembles that may be involved in tuning decision policy. I will also present some recent experimental results and theory – related to effects of extracellular ion dynamics -- that run counter to the classical view of basal ganglia pathways and suggest a new interpretation of certain aspects of this framework. For those not so interested in the basal ganglia, I hope that the upward mapping approach and impact of extracellular ion dynamics will nonetheless be of interest!
Topics
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