Abstract
"What should I do next?" The answer is simple if there is one obvious choice but complicated if there are multiple options and no standout winner. The brain can deal with both scenarios, engaging circuits that drive more automatic responses in some cases and circuits that support deliberation in others. Understanding how this cognitive flexibility is implemented in the brain has the potential to reveal organizational principles for neural information processing. We have therefore carried out large-scale recording and real-time manipulation studies in freely behaving rats performing cognitive tasks to identify signatures of dynamic circuit engagement and to determine whether these signatures are important for flexible behaviour. Here I will present results from two of these studies, including 1) observations of dynamic engagement of non-local hippocampal representations related to ongoing decision-making and 2) a demonstration of the importance of the sequential neural activity patterns underlying non-local hippocampal representations for learning a specific task rule. These results highlight the differential engagement of hippocampal information processing at different times in support of flexible behaviour.
Biography
Loren Frank is Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator and a Professor in the Department of Physiology at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). He received his B.A. in Psychology and Cognitive studies from Carleton College, his Ph.D. in Systems Neuroscience and Computation from M.I.T. and did post-doctoral research at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard University. His laboratory uses a combination of techniques to study the neural bases of learning, memory and decision-making. In particular, his work focuses on the hippocampus and related structures, brain areas critical for forming and retrieving memories for the events of daily life. He also works in close collaboration with colleagues from multiple institutions to develop new technologies to understand how the brain works and how to fix it when it is not working properly. These technologies include flexible polymer electrodes that make it possible to record from large numbers of neurons for months at a time and real-time feedback systems that enable manipulations of specific patterns of brain activity. Dr. Frank has received numerous awards for his scientific discoveries and his mentoring, including fellowships from the Sloan, McKnight and Merck Foundations as well as the Society for Neuroscience Young Investigator Award, the University of Indiana Gill Young Investigator Award, the UCSF Faculty Mentoring Award, and the College Mentors for Kids Inspire Award.