Speaker: Edward Zagha, Assistant Professor of Psychology, UC-Riverside

Title: “Neuronal mechanisms of sensory selection”

Abstract: Goal-directed behavior requires the ability to respond to task relevant target stimuli (selection) while suppressing responses to extraneous distractor stimuli (attenuation). To better understand the neural mechanisms underlying these processes, we trained mice in an operant whisker detection task in which they learned to respond to brief stimuli in one whisker field (target) and ignore identical stimuli in the opposite whisker field (distractor). We subsequently performed a range of neuronal recording and perturbation experiments in expert mice while they were performing this selective detection task. In this talk, I will present data from three studies related to the differential neuronal processing of target and distractor signals. Overall, these studies reveal cortical and subcortical mechanisms by which sensory signals are appropriately routed or suppressed according to task rules.