My talk will focus on some recent and ongoing work in my lab aimed at finding a neural answer to the question: how does cognition affect perception? My lab studies neural coding through the lens of the primate visual system. A variety of cognitive processes (including attention, learning, task switching, and pharmaceuticals that affect cognition) affect all aspects of our percepts and behaviors, including functions as basic as our ability to see. The logic of our experiments is that if we understand what changes in the brain under conditions when we see well, we will be able to identify what is important about neural coding. Our results point to the importance of measuring the way populations of neurons interact both within and across brain areas using behavior as a lens through which to interpret neural data.

Those who wish to meet the speaker should contact Danique Jeurissen, Shadlen Lab.


The Columbia Neuroscience Seminar series is a collaborative effort of Columbia's Zuckerman Institute, the Department of Neuroscience, the Doctoral Program in Neurobiology and Behavior and the Columbia Translational Neuroscience Initiative, and with support from the Kavli Institute for Brain Science.