CSN Seminar: Chandramouli Chandrasekaran

Title: Single Trial Neural Circuit Dynamics Underlying Perceptual Decision-Making Abstract: Perceptual decision-making is our ability to choose and perform appropriate motor acts based on learned sensory cues to achieve goals. The objective of my lab is to understand the neural circuit dynamics underlying this process of perceptual decision-making. In this three-part talk, I will present our current understanding of the decision-related dynamics in dorsal premotor cortex (PMd), a brain area implicated in selecting limb movements based on sensory cues. I will first present results that suggest that superficial layers of PMd signal action choice earlier than the deeper layers of PMd. I will then use analysis of neural population dynamics in PMd during decisions and show that models that posit an urgency signal provide better descriptions of neural dynamics and behavior compared to simple accumulator models. Finally, in the third and final part, I will discuss my recent work on using multi-area recurrent neural network models to model decision-related neural dynamics. Bio: Chand received an undergraduate degree in Information Technology from the University of Madras in India. He then received a masters degree in Neuroscience from the University of Tuebingen. He received a PhD degree in Psychology from Princeton University. He was then a postdoctoral fellow at Stanford University in part supported by a K99/R00 award under the mentorship of Krishna Shenoy and investigated the neural circuit dynamics underlying decision-making. At Stanford, he closely collaborated with Bill Newsome and Maneesh Sahani. Since January 2019, Chand is an assistant professor of Anatomy and Neurobiology, and Psychological and Brain Sciences at Boston University where he directs the Neural Dynamics of Cognition Laboratory. This meeting is viewable via Zoom teleconferencing software: https://bostonu.zoom.us/j/219572741

When 12:15 pm to 1:15 pm on Wednesday, March 4, 2020
Location Eichenbaum Colloquium Room, Kilachand Center, 610 Commonwealth Avenue