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SUMMARY:Insights and strategies during sensorimotor learning - Kishore Kuc
 hibhotla - Johns Hopkins University
DTSTART:20231201T140000Z
DTEND:20231201T150000Z
UID:TALK206665@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Elisa Galliano
DESCRIPTION:My lab studies the distributed mechanisms that support sensori
 motor learning\, with an emphasis on the role of neuromodulation and senso
 ry systems. In this seminar\, I will propose that re-visiting our understa
 nding of the shape of the learning curve and its underlying cognitive driv
 ers is essential for uncovering its neural basis. Rather than thinking abo
 ut learning as either ‘slow’ or ‘sudden’\, I will argue that learn
 ing is better interpreted as a combination of the two. I will provide beha
 vioral evidence that sensorimotor learning can be dissociated into two par
 allel processes: rapid\, step-like improvements in the acquisition of task
  knowledge\, paired with a slower and more variable process of behavioral 
 expression\, which can be attributed to animals’ structured exploration.
  I will then present probabilistic optogenetic and longitudinal two-photon
  imaging results from mice learning an auditory go/no-go task that demonst
 rates a default role for the auditory cortex in task acquisition. We find 
 dedicated neural ensembles that quickly form to encode the discriminative 
 task contingencies\; these late-in-trial contingency signals are uncoupled
  from the underlying stimulus representation. By employing closed-loop opt
 ogenetic inactivation\, we observe that disrupting these post-cue continge
 ncy signals throughout learning impairs acquisition. Our work reveals that
  the sensory cortex does more than enhance the representation of behaviora
 lly-relevant stimuli\, it dynamically forms discriminative contingencies w
 ithin discrete ensembles\, spotlighting a pivotal associative role for the
  sensory cortex in sensorimotor learning.
LOCATION:Bryan Matthews Room\, Physiology building - https://www.pdn.cam.a
 c.uk/about-us/map-and-directions
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