RESEARCH
Thematic Areas
We focus on investigating the neural foundations of cognition and behavior within the context of physiological and pathological conditions.
Over the past five years, the research has delved into understanding long-range circuits and their role in facilitating higher order brain functions. Three ongoing projects are currently underway:
- Exploring how sensory neurons encode perception during associative learning.
- Investigating the functional properties of novel medial prefrontal motor circuits, specifically focusing on recurrent neural networks (RNNs) involved in decision making.
- Examining the functional role of the cortical-thalamic-hippocampal loop (Papez circuit) in emotional regulation and epileptogenesis.
Key Highlight:
A key highlight of the research is Project 2, which centers on the discovery of motor-cortex projecting (MP) circuits. Through a groundbreaking discovery, the research team has identified a unique class of prefrontal motor circuits that contribute to learning sequential patterns.
The study, published in Cell Reports, unveils the architecture of the RNN, demonstrating its formation through unidirectional connections between input units from emotion regions, a hidden unit in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), and output units in the somatic motor cortex (sMO). The study also illustrates the role of the mPFC in mediating persistence, a trait crucial for success in various domains. Current research are under way to understand how these circuits contribute to decision making process.
The research findings have significant implications for understanding and potentially treating pathological conditions characterized by abnormal persistent movements, such as seizure, ADHD, OCD, and addiction. Moreover, the insights gained may inform the design of artificial neural networks, bridging the gap between robotic actions and human behavior nuances.
Our research is supported by grants funded by National Institute of Mental Health, National Institute of National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, National Institute on Aging, Neurological Disorders Health, National Institute of General Medical Sciences, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF BIOMEDICAL IMAGING AND BIOENGINEERING, Office of Director of National Institute of Health, as well as the Office of the Research and Economic Development of University of Wyoming.
