Reprogramming the sensory cortex for adaptive learning Psychology and Neuroscience Friday Seminar: Professor Abhishek Banerjee (Oxford, QMUL)

Animals adapt their behaviour in response to variable changes in reward reinforcement. The prefrontal areas of the mammalian neocortex, particularly the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC), play a crucial role in implementing rule-based strategies to facilitate flexible learning. However, the neural circuit mechanisms in OFC and its interactions with different hierarchical cortical areas underlying such processes remain elusive.

In his talk, Professor Banerjee will discuss the interactions between the orbitofrontal and somatosensory cortices that enable flexible decision-making in a tactile reversal-learning task in mice, and also briefly highlight similar circuit mechanisms at work in humans.