Interacting computations: prefrontal cortex and basal ganglia in decision making

Grantholders

  • Dr Peter Smittenaar

    University of Oxford

Project summary

Peter is a cognitive neuroscientist studying the neurobiology of decision making. The goal of his fellowship is to understand how computations necessary for adaptive behaviour are embedded in networks across the brain. In collaboration with Professor Timothy Behrens at the University of Oxford, he will use functional and diffusion imaging to understand information integration between cortex and basal ganglia during action selection and learning. Peter will then spend time with Professor Michael Frank at Brown University to embed these insights into existing neural network models, and test predictions from these models through pharmacological manipulation.