Theoretical insights into state-dependent and goal-directed behavior

Animals are more than simple input-output machines: the brain shows remarkable plasticity in its responses to the world, shaped by past experiences and survival needs. How do we build a brain that can produce complex survival behaviors in a manner that is flexible and adaptive to an animal’s internal motivational state and needs? I will present three recent stories from the lab in which we explore how the brain modulates its own dynamics to reshape animals’ behavior in the contexts of social behavior, hunger, pain, and predator threat.

Speaker: Ann Kennedy, Scripps Research Institute, Department of Neuroscience