SCSB Lunch Series: Toward an understanding of how the cerebello-thalamocortical pathway supports cognition [Gabriel Stine, Ph.D.]

Date: Friday, September 27,  2024
Time: 12:00pm – 1:00pm
Location: Simons Center Conference room 46-6011 + Zoom [https://mit.zoom.us/j/95345061608]

Speaker: Gabriel Stine, Ph.D.
Affiliation: Simons Postdoctoral Fellow, Jazayeri Lab, McGovern Institute for Brain Research, MIT

Talk title: Toward an understanding of how the cerebello-thalamocortical pathway supports cognition

Abstract: Mounting evidence suggests the cerebellum plays a critical role in cognitive function, and cerebellar abnormalities are common in individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). In motor control, the cerebellum enables smooth, coordinated, and adaptable movements by forming internal models that predict the sensory consequences of actions, which are used to quickly correct errors and adapt to changes in the environment. An intriguing hypothesis is that the cerebellum plays a similar role in cognitive function, facilitating smooth, coordinated, and adaptable thought processes. In this talk, I will present our ongoing efforts to test this hypothesis in macaque monkeys. We developed a timing adaptation task in which subjects must predict the timing of events in the environment and use these predictions to improve and adapt their internal timekeeping. We are conducting large-scale, simultaneous recordings in the cerebello-thalamocortical pathway as monkeys perform this task. I will present preliminary findings that suggest the cerebellum plays an important role in modulating the monkey’s internal timekeeping based on prediction errors. Ultimately, we hope to develop a computational and circuit-level understanding of how the cerebellum supports cognitive function and generate new hypotheses about how this process is altered in ASD.