Brain

Jeffrey Krichmar, Ph.D.
2024-11-05 11:00 - 12:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | Hybrid Event (This event will be held virtually via Zoom and In-Person in the Herkltoz Conference Room), 300 Qureshey Research Lab Irvine, Irvine, CA, 92697, United States
Join the Center for the Neurobiology of Learning and Memory (CNLM) for a hybrid event featuring Dr. Jeffrey Krichmar, Professor of Cognitive Sciences at the University of California, Irvine.
This event will be held in-person in the Herklotz Conference Center and virtually via Zoom.

Biologically inspired robot navigation
We take inspiration from recent neurophysiological findings to create a flexible navigation system for mobile robots. In the first part of my talk, I will present a neuromorphic path planning algorithm inspired by place cell behavior and experience-dependent plasticity. Our navigation system utilizes a spiking neural network wavefront planner and E-prop learning to concurrently map and plan paths in large, complex environments. We incorporate a novel method for mapping which, when combined with the spiking wavefront planner, allows for adaptive planning by selectively considering combining costs. The learning is continuous and does not require retraining due to changes in the environment. The system is tested on a mobile robot platform in an outdoor environment with obstacles and varying terrain. On real and simulated paths, our system outperforms state-of-the-art robot path planners. The spiking wavefront planner is compatible with neuromorphic hardware and could be used for applications requiring low size weight and power. In the second part of my talk, I will discuss how we seamlessly move between global perspectives and first-person perspectives and why this is important for navigation, memory formation, and other cognitive tasks. To understand how a neural system might carry out these computations, we used variational autoencoders (VAEs) to reconstruct first-person perspectives from global map perspectives, and vice versa. Many latent variables in our model had similar responses to those seen in neuron recordings, including place cells, head direction tuning, and encoding distance to objects. These results could advance our understanding of how brain regions support viewpoint linkages and transformations. Currently, we are combining these two modeling approaches into a unified biologically inspired navigation system that can handle dynamic environments.

Ian Ballard, Ph.D.
2024-11-06 12:00 - 13:00 | Social and Behavioral Sciences Gateway (SBSG) 1517, 214 Pereira Dr, Irvine, CA, 92617
The Department of Cognitive Sciences will host Dr. Ian Ballard, Assistant Professor of Psychology from the University of California, Riverside.
How learning sculpts goal-directed behavior
Goal-directed behavior requires the flexibility to update behavior in response to changing environmental contingencies. The neural systems supporting goal-directed behavior are often characterized as competing against a subcortical habit system. My research identifies cooperative interactions between these systems that support flexible decision-making. I will present a series of studies that draw on fMRI and PET neuroimaging, computational modeling, pharmacological probes in healthy human subjects, and collaborative research using neural recordings in nonhuman primates. The findings show that reward learning in the striatum facilitates the selection of beneficial goals, enabling context-dependent behavior. Furthermore, my findings show how the striatum enables flexibility by translating negative feedback into behavioral change. This research details how the brain’s phylogenetically ancient learning mechanisms powerfully shape high-order cognition.

Anthony Wagner, PhD
2024-11-08 14:00 - 15:00 | Plumwood House Room 166, 1003 Health Sciences Rd, Irvine, CA 92617, Irvine, CA, 92697-3800, United States
The Medical Scientist Training Program will host Dr. Anthony Wagner, world-renowned professor from Stanford University recognized for his groundbreaking work on the mechanisms of cognitive control, episodic memory, and the interplay between these processes.
Mechanisms of Memory Variability in Human Aging
