Chicago, IL
United States
CON/CNS Membership Talk
Tuesday, November 4th, 11:00 am
Lucas Pinto, MD, PhD
University of Chicago
KCBD 1103
“Computational logic and circuit mechanisms of large-scale cortical dynamics during perceptual decisions”
Abstract: Recent literature suggests that decision-making computations are distributed across the cortex, but differently so depending on task demands. But what mechanisms orchestrate task-dependent computation? How do specific cognitive processes distinctly engage distributed dynamics? I will discuss my research aimed at answering these questions. I will present evidence that task-dependent, heterogeneous cholinergic input from the basal forebrain to the cortex is specifically required to support a mode of distributed cortical dynamics that enables the accumulation of sensory evidence. I will also introduce a new decision-making task we have developed to dissociate different cognitive processes occurring over flexible timescales, and show data suggesting that these distinct processes are disentangled at the level of cortex-wide dynamics. I will also briefly mention other ongoing and future projects in the lab.