Integrated Neurocomputational and Empirical Studies of Learning and Cognition
Tiago V. Maia,
Departamento de Engenharia Informática –
Abstract:
My program of research focuses on the integrated use of neurocomputational models and empirical techniques – most notably brain imaging – to investigate the neural bases of learning and cognition in healthy subjects and the disruption of these processes in psychiatric disorders. This talk will present three examples in which this integrated approach has been crucial to arrive at novel insights that would be out of reach for more classical approaches. In the first example, I will use a standard reinforcement-learning model to show that learning to avoid negative outcomes depends on an internally generated reward signal. The firing of dopamine neurons in the brain represents reward signals, so this model made new predictions concerning patterns of dopamine release during avoidance learning that we have confirmed experimentally. In the second example, we have used model-based functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) – a technique that fits a computational model to behavior and fMRI data – to identify the neural substrates of habit learning in humans. We found that learning a habit depends on the engagement of a specific brain region; in fact, we were able to distinguish participants who learned the habit from those who did not based on whether or not they engaged this region. In the third and final example, using a neurocomputational model in which we manipulated neurotransmitter levels, we found that reduced levels of a specific neurotransmitter produce the behavioral deficits that characterize attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (a disorder characterized by inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity). The model made several new predictions concerning abnormal patterns of brain connectivity in patients with this disorder, which we have confirmed using fMRI. These examples illustrate the power of using neurocomputational models in tight integration with empirical techniques to advance our understanding of the neural bases of high-level cognitive processes in healthy subjects and to elucidate how these processes go awry in psychiatric disorders.
Date: 2012-Jun-29 Time: 11:00:00 Room: 04
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Upcoming Events
INESC Brussels HUB Winter Meeting 2023

This edition of the HUB Winter Meeting will be co-organised with Science Business and will take place on the 30 and 31 January, in Lisbon, at Instituto Superior Técnico, Department of Computer Science and Engineering.
Please see below a summary of the agenda, this will be updated on the INESC Brussels HUB website regularly (confirmed speakers and other relevant info). Places for onsite participation are limited so registration is mandatory. Online participants will be sent a ZOOM link for each specific session on the 27th January.
INESC Brussels HUB website: https://hub.inesc.pt/
Monday, 30 January
a) Digital Europe Programme & Chips Act: state of play and possibilities for INESC.
9h to 10h30 GMT
(Exclusive for INESC researchers and administrators).
b) Science Business: how can INESC tap into Science Business network, activities and communications tools.
(Exclusive for INESC researchers and administrators).
c) Networking Lunch (for all onsite participants).
d) Roundtable: From rhetoric to reality – Embedding international strategy in the DNA of research organisations.
(Closed-door, roundtable workshop, Chatham House rules, open to INESC researchers and administrators, external participants by invitation only).
e) Networking Dinner
(By invitation only – INESC researchers participating onsite in the event are elegible to join).
Tuesday, 31 January
f) Workshop: How they did it? Strategic positioning for structural success in Horizon Europe: a discussion of best practices.
(Exclusive for INESC researchers, administrators and international invited speakers).
g) The public consultation on European R&I Programmes: Towards FP10.
(Closed-door, roundtable workshop, Chatham House rules, open to INESC researchers and administrators, external participants by invitation only).
h) Networking Lunch (for all onsite participants).
i) Management Committee meeting (Directors and POB members)
The HUB Winter Meeting aims at bringing together researchers and administrators from the 5 INESC institutes, affiliated higher education institutions in Portugal and abroad, with key European and global players, to:
– Discuss key research and innovation issues at EU level.
– Inform institutional policy and strategy.
– Exchange best-practices about R&I management, career development and policy positioning.
– Promote, discuss and deliver vision, visibility, networking and impactful communication.
– Create, identify and deepen partnerships and collaboration opportunities for collaborative R&I.