This thesis proposes a computational framework for understanding human Theory of Mind (ToM): our conception of others' mental states, how they relate to the world, and how they cause behavior. Humans use ToM to predict ...

Successful interaction with the external world requires choosing appropriate actions in the context of available choices. Such decisions require the evaluation of the reward magnitude, or value, associated with each potential ...

Long term potentiation (LTP) of synaptic transmission at the CA3-CA1 hippocampal synapse is a model synaptic plasticity mechanism that may underlie hippocampal dependent learning and memory. Inhibition of post-synaptic ...

The ability to group stimuli into meaningful categories is a fundamental cognitive process though little is known its neuronal basis. To address this issue, we trained monkeys to perform a categorization task in which they ...

Neuroscientists hold widely divergent opinions on the behavioral relevance of oscillatory brain states. Some consider them to be a side effect of anatomical connectivity, with little or no role in guiding action. Others ...

Despite decades of evidence for functional plasticity in the adult brain, the role of structural plasticity in its manifestation remains unclear. cpg15 is an activity-regulated gene encoding a membrane-bound ligand that ...

The basal ganglia, and specifically the sensorimotor (dorsolateral) striatum, have been implicated in stimulus-response learning. Here, I analyze the role the striatum plays in learning. We recorded from neurons of the ...

The striatum is the largest nucleus in the basal ganglia and the recipient of dense dopamine input. Multiple cortico-basal ganglia-thalamic loops are thought to function together during the learning and performance of ...