Mapping learning and decision-making algorithms onto brain circuitry

Schedule
Friday, November 18, 2022
06:30 UTC
Ilana Witten

Prof.

Princeton

Host: NYU Swartz

Event Information

Host

NYU Swartz

Duration

70 minutes

Abstract

In the first half of my talk, I will discuss our recent work on the midbrain dopamine system. The hypothesis that midbrain dopamine neurons broadcast an error signal for the prediction of reward is among the great successes of computational neuroscience. However, our recent results contradict a core aspect of this theory: that the neurons uniformly convey a scalar, global signal. I will review this work, as well as our new efforts to update models of the neural basis of reinforcement learning with our data. In the second half of my talk, I will discuss our recent findings of state-dependent decision-making mechanisms in the striatum.

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