Bogue Fellowship Report: Rodrigo Carrasco Davis

Rodrigo is a PhD student in the Gatsby Computational Neuroscience Unit. For his Bogue Fellowship programme, he spent three months at Princeton University's Neuroscience Institute (PNI) researching cognitive control and meta-learning under the guidance of Javier Masis, Presidential Postdoctoral Research Fellow and Jonathan Cohen, Robert Bendheim and Lynn Bendheim Thoman Professor in Neuroscience. This collaboration has evolved into an extension of the initial project, focusing on the temporal evolution of representation in neural networks.

During his stay in Princeton, Rodrigo visited several research groups on the US East Coast. At Brown University, he met with Sebastian Musslick, Assistant Professor of Cognitive, Linguistic and Psychological Sciences, and presented at the Autonomous Empirical Research Group meeting. His collaboration with Sebastian, stemming from the project initiated with Javier Masis, explores the computational consequences of cognitive fatigue—the weariness experienced after engaging in mentally demanding tasks. Their hypothesis posits that this fatigue is not merely a result of energy depletion but is a hardwired mechanism promoting exploration of our surroundings and to avoid forgetting of previous knowledge.

Rodrigo also presented his work at Harvard University, The Johns Hopkins University, New York University, and Columbia University. 

Reflecting on his time in the US, Rodrigo said: “This visit has been transformative on both professional and personal fronts. Its influence is poised to have a tangible and substantial impact on my future endeavours as a researcher.”

Further information:

Bogue Fellowship Scheme
Follow Rodrigo Carrasco Davis on LinkedIn
UCL Theory of Learning Lab 
Neuroscience of Cognitive Control Lab