Adaptive decision-making underlies complex cognitive functions like problem-solving and reasoning, and goes awry in neuropsychiatric disorders like schizophrenia, anxiety, and addiction. Decisions are a result of internal representations generated by the brain and external representations driven by sensory inputs. A fundamental question is how these sources of information interact to produce adaptive decisions underlying goal-oriented behaviors. Prefrontal cortex (PFC) and thalamic areas have access to both internal and external representations via converging inputs from multiple brain areas. These areas in turn provide diverging outputs to the rest of the brain, allowing them to rapidly reconfigure brain-wide processes to guide decision-making. My overarching hypothesis is that specific PFC and thalamic neuronal populations facilitate adaptive decision-making by recruiting specialized ensembles of neurons in their target structures. Testing this hypothesis has been challenging due to lack of tools for selectively probing the activity of defined neuronal populations. However, recent advancements in optical techniques for recording and manipulating neuronal activity, combined with methods for targeting neuronal populations based on their genetic and/or anatomical identity, finally make this a tractable problem to solve.

I have dissected neuronal function across multiple scales using diverse technical approaches, from mechanisms of single neuron activity to the generation of sensorimotor behavior by brain-wide neuronal networks. As an independent scientist, I will reveal how cell specific cortical and subcortical circuits support adaptive control of behavior by integrating a portfolio of cutting-edge techniques including two-photon calcium imaging, quantifiable behavioral paradigms for mice, targeted optogenetic manipulations, and virus-based circuit tracing. Collectively, my research program will reveal how the vastly interconnected networks of the brain process internal and external information to produce goal-oriented behaviors and provide strong mechanistic basis for understanding PFC dysfunction in a range of neuropsychiatric and neurodevelopmental disorders.