Publications

Animals have exquisite control of their bodies, allowing them to perform a diverse range of behaviours. How such control is implemented by the brain, however, remains unclear. Advancing our understanding requires models that can relate principles of...

The role of the motor cortex in executing motor sequences is widely debated, with studies supporting disparate views. Here we probe the degree to which the motor cortex’s engagement depends on task demands, specifically whether its role differs for highly...

 

The sensorimotor arm of the basal ganglia is a major part of the mammalian motor control network, yet whether it is essential for generating natural behaviors or specialized for learning and controlling motor skills is unclear. We examine this by...

How motor cortex contributes to motor sequence execution is much debated, with studies supporting disparate views. Here we probe the degree to which motor cortex’s engagement depends on task demands, specifically whether its role differs for highly...

The ability to sequence movements in response to new task demands enables rich and adaptive behavior. However, such flexibility is computationally costly and can result in halting performances. Practicing the same motor sequence repeatedly can render its...

Neuroscience has long been an essential driver of progress in artificial intelligence (AI). We propose that to accelerate progress in AI, we must invest in fundamental research in NeuroAI. A core component of this is the embodied Turing test, which...

 

Background

While rats offer a unique opportunity to study social behavior in a well-characterized and tractable model system, most descriptions tend to be subjective, anecdotal, or derived from a narrow set of behavioral assays. Extending a recently...

The acquisition and execution of motor skills are mediated by a distributed motor network, spanning cortical and subcortical brain areas. The sensorimotor striatum is an important cog in this network, yet the roles of its two main inputs, from motor...

The ability to sequence movements in response to new task demands enables rich and adaptive behavior. Such flexibility, however, is computationally costly and can result in halting performances. Practicing the same motor sequence repeatedly can render...

Social interaction is a core component of animal behavior, and the tracking and quantification of spontaneous social behavior presents several challenges in both computer vision and interpretation. We extend a recently developed technique for 3D...

As the old adage goes: practice makes perfect. Yet, the neural mechanisms by which rote repetition transforms a halting behavior into a fluid, effortless, and “automatic” action are not well understood. Here we consider the possibility that well...

Neuroscience has long been an important driver of progress in artificial intelligence (AI). We propose that to accelerate progress in AI, we must invest in fundamental research in NeuroAI.