DAY 1     Session 1

MODERATOR  
BILAL HAIDER 

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 PANELISTS

MICHELE INSANALLY    Diverse neural responses: Where do they come from and what do they do?

Keywords: perception, learning, auditory cortex, motor cortex, heterogeneity 

HENDRIKJE NEINBORG    Do spontaneous movements drive neural activity in the visual cortex? A cross-species comparison

Relevant reference: Talluri*, Kang*, Lazere, Quinn, Kaliss, Yates, Butts, Nienborg: Activity in primate visual cortex is minimally driven by spontaneous movements. Nat Neurosci 26:1953–1959 (2023) *: equal contribution" 

DOBY RAHNEV   Confidence and metacognition in perceptual decision making

Keywords: perceptual decision making, confidence, optimality/suboptimality, individual differences, artificial neural networks

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QUESTIONS OF INTEREST

A shocking number of neurons in the brain do not seem to respond to sensory stimulation, and are otherwise not obviously modulated during behavior. These cells- including cells in primary sensory cortex- typically comprise the majority of datasets yet are often neglected from analysis. What are these cells doing?

What are the reasons for the seeming species differences in modulation by spontaneous body movements between mice and primates? 

What's the role of alertness or arousal state?

How can we determine what are the sensory representations used for later decision making? That is, what is the form of the information that the sensory system passes on to the rest of the brain?

Humans are generally quite good at realizing when their perceptual decisions are likely to be correct. This contrasts with DNNs, which are sometimes poor at self-evaluation. Where do animals fall here and what can we learn from the similarities and differences between these different visual systems?