We study …

1. How cells in the brain learn the value of objects and select them in covert choice processes. Cell activity is measured in the human and the animal brain.
2. How cells form cell assemblies and circuits by temporally synchronizing their activity. Synchronization is measured with a whole battery of tools that are conjointly developed with Martin Vinck and fieldtrip.
3. How circuits form large scale brain networks that implement attentional control. We do this with fMRI analysis and with ECoG recordings of multiple brain areas.
4. How attention and choice behavior evolves through reinforcement learning in computational models.

We find answers to these major questions by …

• … Understanding how human long-range anatomical connections support attention, stimulus selection and behavior. E.g.: Micheli, Kaping, Westendorff, Valiante, Womelsdorf (2015) Inferior-frontal cortex phase synchronizes with the temporal-parietal junction prior to successful change detection. NeuroImage.

• … Characterizing functional cell types and their contributions to circuit functions. E.g.: Ardid, Vinck, Kaping, Marquez, Everling, Womelsdorf (2015) Mapping of functionally characterized cell classes onto canonical circuit operations in primate prefrontal cortex. Journal of Neuroscience. 35(7): 2975–2991.

• … Identifying cell-specific contributions to long-range network interactions during attention. E.g.: Womelsdorf, Ardid, Everling, Valiante (2014) Burst firing synchronizes prefrontal and anterior cingulate cortex during attentional control. Current Biology 24 (22), 2613–2621.

• … Modelling the behavioural learning of attentional stimulus selection using reinforcement learning principles. E.g.: Balcarras, Ardid, Kaping, Everling, Womelsdorf (2016) Attentional selection can be predicted by reinforcement learning of task-relevant stimulus features weighted by value-independent stickiness.Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience.

• … Dissecting frequency-specific coordinaton of local field potential (LFP) and spiketrain correlations during attention. E.g. Voloh, Valiante, Everling, Womelsdorf (2015) Theta gamma coordination between anterior cingulate and prefrontal cortex indexes correct attention shifts.PNAS, Proceedings National Academy of Science, USA 112:8457-8462.

• … Mapping the functional-topography of value- and target prediction processes in the prefrontal and anterior cingulate cortex. E.g.: Kaping, Vinck, Hutchison, Everling, Womelsdorf (2011) Specific contributions of ventromedial, anterior cingulate and lateral prefrontal cortex for attentional selection and stimulus valuation. PLoS Biology. 9(12): e1001224.

• … Decoding information transfer from spike phase, spike rate and spike phase dependent rate codes in the brain. E.g. Womelsdorf, Lima, Vinck, Neuenschwander, Oostenveld, Singer and Fries (2012) Orientation selectivity and noise correlation in awake monkey V1 are modulated by the gamma cycle. PNAS, Proceedings National Academy of Science, USA. 109(11): 4302-07.

• … Identifying the neuromodulation of circuit interactions during attention. E.g.: Hassani, Oemisch, Balcarras, Westendorff, Womelsdorf (2015) Alpha-2A Noradrenergic Activation improves Behavioural Flexibility during Feature-based Reversal Learning. Society for Neuroscience Annual Meeting.