COSYNE

Log in

Cosyne 2009 Workshops

March 2-3, 2009

Snow Bird, Utah

---

Workshop Title

The computational role of dopamine

Organizer(s)

Bruno B. Averbeck, UCL (primary contact)

Michael J. Frank, U Arizona

Abstract

The workshop will address the question of how dopamine affects computation in the brain. This is an important theoretical problem that also impacts directly on a number of brain disorders including ADHD, addiction, schizophrenia and Parkinson’s disease. The role of dopamine is currently being studied both theoretically and experimentally from single neurons, to neural circuits, to behavior and our speakers have been drawn from across this spectrum. Dr. Averbeck examines the effects of dopamine depletion on entropy in basal ganglia networks and Dr. Frank has been using computational models, behavioral pharmacology and genetics to understand the role of fronto-striatal dopamine in stimulus-reward learning and working memory updating. Dr. Seamans examines the effects of dopamine modulation on behavior and ensemble response properties in prefrontal cortex and collaborates closely with Dr. Durtsewitz who builds computational models that link single channel properties to network dynamics in the same system. Dr. Niv has developed high-level computational models that describe the impact of dopamine on behavior, and Dr. Cools carries out neuroimaging and behavioral neuropharmacology to assess the effects of dopamine manipulations on behavior and brain activity. Finally, Dr. Bergman looks at the signals which drive dopamine neurons to fire, and Dr. Phillips uses cyclic voltammetry to measure dopamine release in behaving rodents. Thus, our workshop brings together researchers who are using divergent computational and experimental approaches to examine the effects of dopamine from the level of micro-circuits to behavior, and our primary goal is to bring these perspectives together to increase coherence and cross-fertilization within this interdisciplinary field.

Speakers

Morning session 8:00-11:00

1. 8:00-8:05 Welcome and introduction

1. 8:05-8:45 Bruno Averbeck (UCL Institute of Neurology, UK), Title: The effects of dopamine depletion on network entropy in the globus pallidus.
2. 8:45-9:30 Jeremy Seamans (University of British Columbia, CA), Title: Dopamine modulation of prefrontal cortex neurons and networks.
3. 9:30-10:15 Daniel Durstewitz (University of Heidelberg, Germany), Title: Dopamine controls cortical dynamical regimes and computational properties via slow oscillations.
4. 10:15-11:00 Paul Phillips (University of Washington, USA), Title: Learning by different strategies - what does dopamine do?

Afternoon session 4:30-7:30

1. 4:30-5:15 Hagai Bergman (Hebrew University, Israel), Title: Correlation studies of the actor/critic architecture of the basal ganglia.
2. 5:15-6:00 Michael Frank (Brown University, USA), Title: The neurogenetics of exploration vs exploitation: Prefrontal and striatal dopaminergic components.
3. 6:00-6:45 Roshan Cools (F.C. Donders Centre for Cognitive Neuroimaging, Nijmegen, The Netherlands), Title: Dopaminergic modulation of flexible outcome-based decision making.
4. 6:45-7:30 Ben Seymour (UCL Institute of Neurology, UK), Title: The role of dopamine in inter-temporal choice.