LIN Seminar- Lauren Burgeno (University of Oxford) and Arif Hamid (Brown University)

Please join us on April 29th, 2021 for a panel discussion with Arif Hamid (Brown University) and Lauren Burgeno (University of Oxford).  Our guests will be sharing their research, as well as discussing their academic experience.

Arif Hamid will be presenting "Striatal dopamine waves as a mechanism for spatiotemporal credit assignment"

Abstract:

Significant evidence supports the view that dopamine shapes reward-learning by encoding prediction errors. However, it is unknown whether dopamine decision signals are tailored to the functional specialization of target regions. In this talk, I will report on a novel set of wave-like spatiotemporal activation patterns in dopamine axons and release across the dorsal striatum that switch between different activational motifs. At reward delivery, waves are altered by task demands, propagating from dorsomedial to dorsolateral striatum during instrumental contingencies, and in the opponent direction when rewards are independent of animal behavior. I will demonstrate that our results are consistent with a computational architecture in which striatal dopamine signals are sculpted by inference about agency, and provide evidence for a spatiotemporally “vectorized” role of dopamine in credit assignment that are directed toward specialized “expert” striatal subregions.

Lauren Burgeno will present "How does striatal acetylcholine shape reward guided decision making?"

Abstract:

The mesolimbic dopamine pathway is centrally involved in mediating goal-directed learning and decision making. Indeed, numerous studies have demonstrated a strong correlation between either mesolimbic dopamine neuron firing patterns, or striatal dopamine release and theoretical teaching signals thought to guide behavior. It has become increasingly evident that there is not always a direct relationship between neural firing patterns, measured at the cell body, and the amount of neurotransmitter that is released at axon terminals. It is this final neural output which is key to understanding the relationship between dynamic synaptic transmission and behavior. Dopamine neurons have massive, highly branched axonal arbors, which receive direct input from other neurons. Processes happening at axon terminals can have powerful local influence as gatekeepers over dopamine signals and dopamine-dependent behavior. Thus, to determine which information dopamine neurotransmission carries, and how this contributes to associative learning and decision making, we need to understand precisely when and how axonal inputs regulate dopamine release.

Each speaker will also talk briefly about their career/academic path, and talks will be followed by a panel style Q&A.

For zoom information, please email Emily Beaufort (ebeauf2@uic.edu).