The role of frontal-temporal cortices in relational knowledge and constructing models of the world

Steve Kennerley (primary)
Inst. of Neurology - Sobell Dept. of Motor Neuroscience
UCL
Tim Behrens (secondary)
Inst. of Neurology - Functional Imaging Laboratory
UCL/Oxford

Abstract

Our lab explores how the brain learns and extracts environmental statistics to optimize behaviour. To answer these questions, we develop techniques to facilitate behavioural training of non-human primates (NHPs), and we utilise high density electrodes to record many neurons from multiple brain regions simultaneously. This allows us to use complex tasks that simulate real-world complexity, and to analyse high-dimensional neural population data encoding features of the complex tasks. This project will use these advanced techniques to explore the neural circuits and algorithms which support the construction of cognitive maps, and the relational knowledge that underlies our interactions with the world.


References

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BBSRC Area
Animal disease, health and welfare
Area of Biology
NeurobiologyPhysiology
Techniques & Approaches
Mathematics / StatisticsSimulation / Modelling