Mitsuko Watabe-Uchida, Ph.D.
December 14(Thu) - December 14(Thu), 2023
12 p.m.
N center 86120 & ZOOM
Neuro@noon Seminar
Date: 12 p.m., Thu, Dec 14th
Speaker: Mitsuko Watabe-Uchida, Ph.D. (Harvard University)
Title: Multiple axes of dopamine evaluation systems
Abstract: Animals including human beings exhibit fear responses towards certain classes of stimuli, including predators, rapidly approaching objects (e.g., trains), overwhelming sensory input, and novelty. In response to the same fear-inducing stimulus, however, some animals are more avoidant than others, and single animals may change their avoidance behaviors depending on a context. While fear responses and learning have been studied intensively using clear threats or pain, it is not yet clear how an animal (or the brain) labels an ambiguous stimulus as a threat and adjusts behaviors accordingly. In my talk, I will discuss how animals dynamically develop threat-coping behaviors, and how dopamine biases their actions by signaling both pre-determined and iteratively learned threat predictions. I will propose a model in which dopamine determines decision biases along distinct axes of reward and threat, rather than relying on a single bi-directional value estimate ranging from punishment to reward.