Research Interests:
Computational modeling of neural mechanisms underlying decision making, reinforcement learning, and cognitive control. I develop neural network and mathematical models across scales and levels of abstraction. At the neural level, I focus on interactions between basal ganglia, frontal cortex, and hippocampus, and their modulation by dopamine and other neuromodulators. I test theoretical model predictions using cognitive paradigms in tandem with various neural measurements and manipulations across species, which are used to iteratively refine and improve models.

My research combines multiple levels of computational modeling and experimental work to understand the neural mechanisms underlying reinforcement learning, decision making and cognitive control. We develop neural circuit and algorithmic models of systems-level interactions between multiple brain areas (primarily prefrontal cortex and basal ganglia and their modulation by dopamine). We test theoretical predictions of the models using various neuropsychological, pharmacological, genetic, and imaging techniques.