Cortical and Cerebellar Mechanisms Underlying Predictive Processing

Farzaneh Najafi, Ph.D.
Allen Institute

BlueJeans Livestream

ABSTRACT

Predictive coding is a theory of brain function that assumes the brain contains an internal model of the world, which constantly generates predictions about our environment, and updates the predictions if they deviate from the actual external inputs. It is suggested that predictive processing in the brain is impaired in neurological disorders such as schizophrenia and autism, underlying symptoms such as hallucinations and social disconnection. Treating these disorders requires understanding the neural mechanisms that generate and update prediction signals in the healthy brain. My research vision is to shed light on the brain-wide circuits and computations that underlie predictive processing.

I will start my talk by presenting data from my previous and ongoing research that demonstrate the representation of predictive signals in cortical and cerebellar circuits in behaving mice. Then I will describe the gap in our knowledge about how the cerebellum and cortex may interact to support predictive behavior. I will briefly present my future research plans that allow investigating these unknown questions, and help us gain insight into the cortico-cerebellar circuitries that underlie predictive processing.