New York University

Remembering the right memories; thinking the right thoughts

Every decision draws on a tiny fraction of what we could remember or imagine, so deciding well depends on choosing which memories to retrieve, which possibilities to consider, and when to stop thinking. How does the brain learn to make these choices under constraints on time and memory? In this talk, I will present our lab's computational and experimental work for understanding the adaptive control of memory and planning. Resource-rational models formalize the tradeoffs governing which mental operations are worth performing and when deliberation should stop. Instantiating these models in recurrent neural networks allows us to ask how useful cognitive strategies and internal representations emerge through learning, linking the goals of cognition to candidate neural mechanisms. Alongside this modeling framework, experiments use eye movements as a window into the contents and dynamics of thought. By tracking where people look as they remember and plan, we can probe which information they consider, how they revisit and combine it, and how these processes shape their choices. These measurements allow us to test models against the unfolding process of deliberation. Together, these approaches offer a framework for understanding how we learn to remember and think selectively, using limited cognitive resources to support flexible behavior.

Relevant Publications

Flexible decisions arise from resource-rational memory sampling

Learning to select computations in recurrent neural circuits

Tuesdays@10 is a signature Zuckerman Institute initiative that aims to expose researchers at all levels to high-quality science and stimulate scientific discourse. The speakers featured in this series represent various fields and techniques in neuroscience, and include invited guests of the Columbia Neuroscience Seminars, the Zuckerman Institute's Local Circuits Affiliates Program, and other special seminar series through a combined, collaborative effort of one or more of the following: Columbia's Zuckerman Institute, the Center for Precision Psychiatry, the Center for Theoretical Neuroscience, 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. 

More information and a full schedule can be found here.