Striatum interneurons track learning of attention cues

Our new paper shows how fast spiking interneurons in the striatum activate specifically when attention cues are learned. This is a rare paper where we succeed to isolate fast spiking interneurons in recordings from nonhuman primate anterior striatum while the animals performed a complex feature-based attentional learning task. Phd can. Kia Banaeie Boroujeni spearheaded the advanced analysis pipeline for this sophisticated paper – congratulations for a huge milestone in deciphering the sources of attentional control! The paper can be downloaded here. See also Research-News @ Vanderbilt covering these findings.

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New Open-Source Experimental Suite for 3D experiments in monkeys, humans, and artificially intelligent agents

Our new open-source suite for experiments in virtual 3D environments is accepted at J Neurosci Methods and downloadable here. This suite is a complete software (using Unity3D) and hardware (using Arduinos) solution for conducting experiments in 3D environments. It allows running the same experiment in touchscreen, gaze control, or joystick mode (for humans and animals), […]

Phase-specific Activation Induces Latent Connectivity Changes

A recent paper provides rare causal evidence that phase-specific stimulation during beta oscillation bursts lead to transient changes in effective (latent) connectivity. This finding and its potentially widespread implications are discussed in our paper Womelsdorf T, Hoffman K (2018) Latent Connectivity: Neuronal Oscillations Can Be Leveraged for Transient Plasticity. Current Biology. 28(16):R879-R882..

New Multi-task cognitive profiling platform for NHPs+humans

We published a new unity based software platform for profiling cognitive and motivational constructs in nonhuman primates and humans. The platform has multiple pre-configured tasks with some gamified features that makes them engaging to play for participants. Details are described and linked on the website: http://m-use.psy.vanderbilt.edu. The technical details are available in Watson et al. […]