Zheng Wu, PhD

Our cognitive functions rest on a capacity for flexible, contextual decision making. In many brain disorders, such as obsessive-compulsive disorder, these capacities are disrupted. While many aspects of perception and action are known, the neural mechanisms that flexibly link the two remain unclear. To leverage the powerful genetics tools and disease models, we developed an odor-guided delayed match to sample (DMS) task in mice. We showed a surprising role of a premotor area in processing perceptual information and decision making. Our lab will take advantage of these findings to study the neural circuits and computations supporting cognitive flexibility.