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In the world of neuroscience, understanding the inner workings of the mammalian brain is a complex and ongoing endeavor. One area of particular focus is the study of high-order cognitive processes that support learning and memory.

One of the key areas of interest is the active modulation of behavior, which optimizes sensory perception and motor output during our interactions with the world. This process, known as active sensing, is an active operation that requires the continuous modulation of the detection, representation, and processing of incoming information.

In the lab we are delving deeper into processes that subserve sensation and action by investigating the brain mechanisms that allow us to sense the world around us. Through an in-depth examination of active sensing, we hope to unravel the multi-level, system-wide processes that underlie learning and memory.

It is through this line of inquiry that we hope to unlock new insights into the intricacies of the human brain and further our understanding of how we learn and remember.

Research Projects

Aging and neurodegeneration

In the Kahn lab, we use animal models to study brain changes that occur in normal aging, as well as in neurodegenerative disorders. As we age, natural changes in the brain lead to a level of normal and expected cognitive decline over time. However, a subset of individuals will develop neurodegenerative disorders in old age that present a much more rapid and severe decline in cognitive ability.

High-order cognitive processes and goal-directed behavior in learning and memory

The lab studies high-order cognitive processes supporting learning and memory, with a focus on active sensing mechanisms as a way to understand the underlying processes. We use olfaction in mice as a model to study active sensing and have developed an experimental setup to monitor sniffing behavior non-invasively in behaving mice to examine brain-wide responses during learning.

Motor behaviors

The ability to learn and perform goal-directed, motor actions is essential for adaptive behavior and survival. Efforts to dissect motor function suggest dissociable roles for basal ganglia and cerebellum. The current consensus view is that the former reinforces goal-directed actions while the latter refines actions using error signals. Each circuit has been thoroughly studied, yet an understanding of how reward-related signals dynamically modulate the contributions of these circuits is lacking.

Neural mechanisms underlying flexible decision-making

A baseball player who takes a risk by swinging at a bad pitch in an early inning would likely not swing at the same pitch when the game is on the line. How does the brain perform such context-dependent associations between sensory stimuli and motor actions?

Featured Publication

Success is not final, failure is not fatal: It is the courage to continue that counts.

Winston Churchill