Brain circuits for sensorimotor decision-making in health and disease.

How brain circuits are organized to support decision-making is a fundamental question in neuroscience.

Decision-making involves two principal processes, the integration of sensory information and execution of the goal-directed behavior.

This project aims to unravel neural mechanisms for sensorimotor decision-making in health and disease.A central brain region controlling sensorimotor functions is the striatum, the input structure of the basal ganglia.

One role of the striatum is the selection of specific actions out of a vast repertoire of possible behaviors broadcasted from cortex.

Such action selection is a function of concerted activity of different cell types, shaped by different neuromodulatory systems.

Aberrant neuronal activity and neuromodulation in striatal circuits are the cause of disorders such as Parkinson’s disease, ADHD, OCD, and more, affecting both motor and sensory functions. Previous studies of striatal function have focused on the role of individual neuromodulators, often studied separately.

Little is known about the interactions between different neuromodulators and their dynamics across the two striatal hemispheres.

Recent studies in our lab have shown reciprocal interactions between dopaminergic and cholinergic systems, and  bilateral sensorimotor signals in the striatum.

We aim to build on these findings and unravel the key neural and neuromodulatory mechanisms in the striatum supporting sensorimotor decision-making in healthy and Parkinsonian mice.