Andrew Peters - Neuroscience - 'Neural circuits for learning and executing behaviour'

Behaviour is not learned and driven by single brain regions, but instead arises from cooperation across multiple areas. One prominent circuit of interdependent regions consists of a loop between the cortex, basal ganglia, and thalamus. Together, these regions are critical for learning and executing behaviour, though it is largely unknown how this is accomplished at the level of neural activity. Our lab is interested in discovering fundamental principles of this circuit, and we investigate issues like how activity flows between regions, how it changes with learning, and how activity relates to behaviour. Our experiments combine large-scale imaging and electrophysiology techniques with learned behaviours and neuronal manipulation in mice. We use simple tasks, like stimulus-response associations, to investigate the relationship between activity and behaviour. Projects in the lab can be flexible along these themes, and may typically include recording and analysis from one or more brain regions across learning.