Upcoming ION Seminars
Abstract: Dexterous movement is a hallmark of human motor ability, enabling us to interact skillfully with our environment. The loss of this capability due to movement disorders, such as Parkinson’s disease or stroke, strips individuals of independence and quality of life. This talk explores the neural underpinnings of dexterity, focusing on how the nervous system integrates sensory and motor signals to achieve precise control. We then examine how these mechanisms break down in movement disorders, leading to impaired motor function. Finally, we turn to neuroengineering technologies which aim to restore movement in affected individuals. By leveraging advances in neural interfaces and wearable systems, we are seeking to design systems to repair motor function. Overall, we highlight our highly interdependent scientific and translational goals to understand and restore complex movement.
In this talk, I will examine the computational motivations and empirical evidence for spatiotemporal dopamine (DA) waves that support reward learning within fronto-striatal networks. I will focus on the cognitive striatum as a case study to show that DA waves tailor decision signals according to local computational/behavioral specialty-- accomplished via vector-weighting delays in DA pulses across space and time. This code resolves key computational challenges in competing C-BG mixture of experts: spatiotemporal credit assessment at reward, and dynamic reprioritization of circuit inference and gating during performance. Ultimately, these DA wave dynamics represent an empirically informed revision of the longstanding "global broadcast" hypothesis of DA RPE signals. Finally, I will briefly summarize our recent attempts at understanding the complexity of the DA wave manifold, and competitive/collaborative circuit interactions that constrain DA to motif trajectories during specific task demands.
2025 UO Undergraduate Research Symposium
Undergraduates, register by April 17, 2025 to present!
This academic year will host a series of virtual and in person seminars with live, remote access via Zoom. ION Seminars are open to the University of Oregon community and in person attendance is welcome. In person seminars will be held in Willamette 110 at 4 PM PT where both attendees and speakers are required to follow University of Oregon guidelines for preventing the spread of COVID-19. Please visit coronavirus.uoregon.edu for more information.
To accommodate remote speakers and time differences, some seminars may be offered at Noon PT or another agreed upon time. For students taking BI 407/507 Neuroscience Seminar please contact the course instructor to access recordings as needed.
Details for upcoming seminars will be shared here on the ION website as well as through our ION mailing lists. Links for remote access via Zoom will be available only through ION Seminar mailing list and those not on the list can request access by contacting Jenna Penny with their uoregon.edu email address.