CANCELLED: Xinying Cai, Ph.D.
After careful consideration of the evolving Coronavirus concerns, ISDM has decided to cancel this event. Thank you for your time and we apologize for the inconvenience.
Assistant Professor of Neural and Cognitive Sciences
New York University Shanghai
Reference frames for value and choice representations in the orbitofrontal cortex
Abstract
A frame of reference refers to the coding scheme of a neuron representing information in a specific coordinate. Choice tasks often afford multiple reference frames since any characteristics of the choice task can provide a valid reference frame. A recent study demonstrated that OFC neurons consistently encode the key decision variables in the same reference frame under different behavioral contexts. This organizational stability could conserve the interaction of specific populations of neurons that perform the same computation across multiple contexts. We are pushing the limit of such organizational stability in the OFC by testing neuronal coding in single vs multi-attribute decision context and across different reference frames. We discovered that in the multi-attribute choice task, OFC neurons primarily encode task-related variables associated with the choice process in a good-based reference frame, while in the single attribute task, the same population of neurons are insufficient for implementing a single-attribute decision in the spatial reference frame. These results have important implications regarding the role of OFC in value-based decisions.
About the Speaker
Xinying Cai is an Assistant Professor of Neural and Cognitive Sciences at NYU Shanghai and a Global Network Assistant Professor of NYU. He holds a Ph.D. from Arizona State University and a B.S. from Zhejiang University. Professor Cai’s current research focuses on elucidating the neural underpinnings of economic decision making. Prior to joining NYU Shanghai, he was a postdoctoral fellow first at Yale University, then at Washington University in St. Louis.