Download Learning about Learning - by Directly Driving Networks of Neurons

Learning about Learning - by Directly Driving Networks of Neurons
Aaron Batista
Associate Professor of Bioengineering
University of Pittsburgh
New behaviors require new patterns of neural activity among the population of neurons
that control behavior. How can the brain find a pattern of activity appropriate for the
desired behavior? Why does that learning process take time? To tackle questions like
these, we reverse the normal order of operations in systems neuroscience: instead of
teaching animals a new behavior and then searching for its neural correlate, we specify
a neural activity pattern and then through neurofeedback, we guide the animal to try to
exhibit the behavior which would require that activity pattern. Our research question is,
which types of neural activity patterns can animals learn to exhibit? We have observed
that one type of new neural activity pattern can be learned readily, and another type of
neural activity pattern takes longer for animals to learn to exhibit. This provides new
insight into the neural mechanisms of skill learning.