
Neural Mechanisms of Decision-Making and Visuomotor Behaviors
We investigate the external and internal variables underlying normal and impaired decision-making and visuomotor behaviors that require transformations between spatial reference frames, such as reaching and grasping. To this end, we conduct intracranial recordings and fMRI studies in monkeys and humans, examining the behavioral and neural consequences of structural and reversible brain injuries. In both monkeys and human patients, we place particular emphasis on the contribution of higher thalamic nuclei, such as the Pulvinar, to these behaviors and their causal influence on activity in the fronto-parietal cortex.
Thalamic Contributions to Spatial Decision-Making:
- Spatial decision-making in human patients with thalamic lesions
- Thalamic contribution to visually guided reaching and grasping
- Impact of stroke in thalamic nuclei on grasping and reaching behaviors
- Bihemispheric effects of Pulvinar inactivation on reaching representations in the parietal cortex
- Thalamic contributions to internal models of motor control