Insights and strategies during learning
My lab studies the distributed mechanisms that support sensorimotor learning, with an emphasis on the role of neuromodulation and sensory systems. In this seminar, I will propose that re-visiting our understanding of the shape of the learning curve and its underlying cognitive drivers is essential for uncovering its neural basis. Rather than thinking about learning as either ‘slow’ or ‘sudden’, I will argue that learning is better interpreted as a combination of the two. I will provide behavioral evidence that sensorimotor learning can be dissociated into two parallel processes: rapid, step-like improvements in the acquisition of task knowledge, paired with a slower and more variable process of behavioral expression, which can be attributed to animals’ structured exploration. I will then present probabilistic optogenetic and longitudinal two-photon imaging results from mice learning an auditory go/no-go task that demonstrates a default role for the auditory cortex in task acquisition. We find dedicated neural ensembles that quickly form to encode the discriminative task contingencies; these late-in-trial contingency signals are uncoupled from the underlying stimulus representation. Finally, I will discuss some ongoing work in my lab focused on the neural basis of lifelong , multi-task learning.
Date:
14 November 2024, 10:30 (Thursday, 5th week, Michaelmas 2024)
Venue:
Dorothy Crowfoot Hodgkin Building, off South Parks Road OX1 3QU
Venue Details:
DCHB 20-026 Seminar Room 1
Speaker:
Assistant Professor Kishore Kuchibhotla (Johns Hopkins University)
Organising department:
Department of Physiology, Anatomy and Genetics (DPAG)
Organiser:
Professor Randy Bruno (DPAG, University of Oxford)
Organiser contact email address:
events@dpag.ox.ac.uk
Host:
Professor Randy Bruno (DPAG, University of Oxford)
Part of:
Neuroscience Theme Guest Speakers (DPAG)
Booking required?:
Not required
Audience:
Members of the University only
Editor:
Hannah Simm
