Benjamin Scott

Director: Laboratory of Comparative Cognition

My research interest is to develop and apply new technologies to study the neural basis of cognition and complex learned behavior.  My approach involves a combination of two fields.  The first is biomedical engineering, particularly the development of novel optical imaging and genetic methods to observe and perturb the activity of neurons in their native habitat – the intact brains of living organisms.  The second is neuroethology, the study of brain circuits that underlie natural behaviors in order to elucidate basic principles of brain function. My current work brings together high-throughput behavioral training with advanced techniques for imaging brain activity in order to identify and characterize the neural circuits involved in evidence-based decision making.