CORTEX conference by Emmanuel Procyk

We seek to understand how neural networks in the brain produce complex cognition. Specifically we take established knowledge about simple systems in the brain and understand how it can be applied to higher cognitive functions, often referred to as executive functions. These are functions that allow flexible behaviours that can be readily adapted in volatile environments. So for example neural firing rate, neural synchronization and oscillations are mechanisms by which the brain stores, transmits, and manipulates distributed information in simple perceptual functions. But how these mechanisms apply to higher cognitive functions is little understood. Our current projects aim at exploring how cognitive processes are specified by neural activity and dynamical interactions between frontal cortical areas, how neuromodulation contributes, and how network interactions change during adaptive behaviours. We want to understand the way in which executive functions are learned and acquired in the brain.