Adaptive decision templates in the human brain

Interacting with the surrounding environment depends on our ability to extract meaningful patterns from incoming streams of sensory information. Learning and experience are known to facilitate this skill; yet, we know little about how the brain extracts structure and generalises this knowledge to novel settings. Here, I propose to test the brain mechanisms underlying structure learning using contrasting tasks that involve learning structure in space vs. time at different levels of complexity (simple vs. complex feature contingencies). I will use computational modelling to interrogate the processes involved in learning behaviourally-relevant structures (i.e. decision templates). I will relate this system-level insight to multimodal neuroimaging to provide converging evidence for brain mechanisms that mediate learning specialisation and generalisation. I will exploit high-field imaging to test fine-scale decision templates in the visual cortex. I will combine 7T imaging with human electrophysiology (MEG/EEG) and interventions (TMS) to test for local and larger-scale brain circuits that retune decision templates through feedback and inhibitory interactions. Finally, I will test whether these mechanisms support our ability to generalise previous experience to novel contexts and tasks. This integrated approach will advance our understanding of the brain’s capacity for adaptive and resilient behaviour with implications for promoting lifelong learning.