We are not only capable of learning and reasoning about complex information, we can exert volitional control over these processes. Research at the Picower Institute includes studies to understand the cells, circuits and systems that allow for these capabilities and how abnormalities can disrupt them.

People employ executive functions such as attention and planning to achieve goals and act on motivations, aided by learning and memory. Research at the Picower Institute seeks to understand how the complex coordination of cells, circuits and systems works in the brain to enable such functions.

Learning and motivation are often governed by the experience of reward and the desire to obtain it again. At the same time, some diseases such as addiction hijack this system. Researchers at Picower study these systems to gain insight into the mechanisms of healthy and unhealthy behavior.

Neurons are electrically active, producing patterns of activity that can be observed to understand their function. By developing advanced techniques to detect and analyze these patterns of electrical signals, Picower Institute scientists can advance the study of how brain circuits, for instance for storing and recalling memory, work.