Virtual: Brain meeting: Professor Tirin Moore

Brain meeting 

 Abstract: Many behaviors can rely solely on fixed stimulus-response associations. However, more complex behaviors, particularly those of primates, rely on the ability to flexibly assign different behavioral responses to the same stimuli, depending on the context. Neural activity in sensory cortex is modulated by cognitive factors such as attention, reward value and working memory, and in such cases, sensory responses reflect a selection of the specific sensory information needed to achieve behavioral goals. In contrast, more abstract behavioral constraints that do not involve stimulus selection, such as abstract rules, are thought to be encoded by neurons outside of sensory cortex. I will discuss our recent evidence showing that information about abstract rules can be decoded from neuronal activity in primate visual cortex even in the absence of sensory stimulation. Furthermore, that rule information is greatest among neurons with the least visual activity and the weakest coupling to local neuronal networks. These results identify rule-specific signals within sensory cortex and identify distinct mechanisms exist there for mapping rule information onto sensory guided decisions.  In addition, I will talk about recent developments in large-scale neurophysiological techniques in nonhuman primates.