Our laboratory is interested in identifying the neurobiological principles
underlying cognition and decision-making. We use a reductionist approach,
distilling behavioral questions to quantitative behavioral tasks for rats and
mice that enable the monitoring and manipulation of neural circuits supporting
behavior. Employing state-of-the-art electrophysiological techniques we first
seek to establish the neural correlates of behavior and then use molecular
and optogenetic manipulations to systematically dissect the underlying neural
circuits.
Given the complexity of animal behavior and the dynamics of neural
networks that produce it, our studies require quantitative analysis and theoretical models. We have also begun to incorporate human psychophysics to validate
our behavioral observations in rodents by linking them with analogous behaviors
in human subjects.
In terms of topics our approach is multifaceted, currently
we study: (i) the roles of uncertainty in decision-making; (ii) the division of labor among cell-types in prefrontal cortex; (iii) how the cholinergic system supports learning and attention; and (iv) social decisions that rely stereotyped circuits. A unifying theme is the use of cell-type and pathway-specific perturbations to
effect gain and loss of function for specific behavioral abilities. Through such
manipulations of genetically and anatomically defined neuronal elements we
hope to identify fundamental principles of neural circuit function that will be
useful for developing therapies for diseases such as schizophrenia, Alzheimer's disease, and autism spectrum disorder.