Cortical-amygdala circuitry in reward learning and decision making
To make adaptive decisions we must cast ourselves into the future and consider the outcomes of our potential choices. This prospective consideration is informed by our memories. I will discuss our lab’s recent work investigating the neural circuits responsible for encoding, updating, and retrieving reward memories for use in the considerations underlying decision making. We have taken a multifaceted approach to these investigations, combining recording, modern circuit dissection, and behavioral tools. Our results are generally indicating that the orbitofrontal cortex and basolateral amygdala work in a circuit to participate in these functions. The cognitive symptoms underlying many psychiatric disorders result from a failure to appropriately learn about and/or anticipate potential future events, making these basic science data relevant to the understanding and potential treatment of mental illness.
Date: 23 November 2021, 16:00 (Tuesday, 7th week, Michaelmas 2021)
Venue: Zoom link will be sent out via the Cortex Club mailing list
Speaker: Dr. Kate Wassum (UCLA)
Organiser: Cortex Club (University of Oxford)
Host: Cortex Club (University of Oxford)
Part of: Cortex Club - Oxford Neuroscience Society
Booking required?: Not required
Booking url: https://www.cortexclub.com/events
Audience: Public
Editor: Antara Majumdar