Neuronal Mechanisms of Learning and Utilizing Abstract Representations

Despite the importance of abstraction for human cognition, little is known about the underlying mechanisms and their disruption by disease or injury. The goal of this research is to develop a circuit-level understanding of abstraction to enable the development of new treatments for the devastating effects of cognitive disorders in which abstraction fails. As part of this study, investigators will conduct experiments that utilize the rare opportunity to record in-vivo from human single neurons simultaneously in multiple brain areas in patients undergoing treatment for drug resistant epilepsy.

Researchers will investigate three overarching hypotheses on the neural substrate of abstraction. Aim 1: to determine the dynamics of learning abstract representations. Aim 2: to decipher how abstract representations facilitate generalization. Aim 3: to decipher how abstract representations facilitate analogical reasoning.

The expected outcomes of this work are a characterization of how abstract neural representations are formed, how they enable generalization to novel stimuli and tasks, and how they enable analogical reasoning.

Participants in this study are patients undergoing invasive monitoring for suspected focal epilepsy with depth electrodes. Subjects will conduct a variety of cognitive tests on a computer placed in front of them during their hospital stay. Participating hospitals in this study are Cedars-Sinai, UC Davis, and Barrow Neurological Institute.

Inclusion criteria

• Intractable epilepsy, undergoing invasive monitoring
• Age ≥18
• Full Scale Intelligence Quotient > 70
• Ability to comprehend and perform simple behavioral tasks by pressing buttons on laptop computer in response to questions.

Exclusion criteria

• Determination by clinicians and investigators that a patient is unable to complete the behavioral tasks required for the protocol due to either cognitive limits, psychological limits, or pain.