Assistant Professor of Neurology, University of California, San Francisco
Phone: (510) 985-3580
Fax:   (510) 985-3101
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Our ability to make rapid decisions based on changing external and internal circumstances belies the complexity of the underlying computations. In our laboratory, we seek to understand learning and decision-making processes in people by using functional MRI to image subjects as they perform tasks of varying levels of complexity. We investigate paradigms in which subjects make perceptual decisions based on random dot motion, as well as classification decisions in which subjects must learn higher-order stimulus-response associations based on feedback/reward. As an adjunct to this work, we are developing multivariate methods to investigate interactions between brain regions important to performance. By running parallel projects in subjects with substance use disorders, we hope to identify brain markers of the impaired decision-making seen in addiction, as well as to develop and test potential therapies.