Linking values to actions and evaluating expectations relative to outcomes are both central to reinforcement learning and are thought to underlie financial decision-making. However, neurophysiology studies of these processes in humans remain limited. Here, we recorded the activity of single human nucleus accumbens neurons while subjects performed a gambling task. We show that the nucleus […]
motivated by curiosity.
Exploring dependence between brain signals in a monkey during learning
Our goal is to investigate dependence between brain wave oscillations in the nucleus accumbens (NAc) and the hippocampus (Hc) regions of a macaque monkey during a learning association task. The classical approach to studying dependence in the spectral domain is via cross-coherence. It is computed for each frequency (or band) and identifies the frequency bands […]
Epiquinamide: A poison that wasn’t from a frog that was
In 2003, we reported the isolation, structure elucidation, and pharmacology of epiquinamide, a novel alkaloid isolated from an Ecuadoran poison frog, Epipedobates tricolor. Since then, several groups, including ours, have undertaken synthetic efforts to produce this compound, which appeared initially to be a novel, beta-2-selective nicotinic acetylcholine receptor agonist. Based on prior chiral GC analysis […]
Shaun Patel