The neural basis of skill compositionality and generalization

Active Project Grant Awarded Last action

Award ID
F32NS148589
Recipient
Awarding agency
Obligated
$76,780

Award facts

Assistance listing
93.853 Extramural Research Programs in the Neurosciences and Neurological Disorders
Completion date 0% complete
Place of performance
New York, NY 10027, USA

Award details come from USAspending.gov.

Description

As the agency reported it.

Abstract
In our everyday lives, we routinely instantiate complex thoughts reusing previously learned knowledge, i.e., compositionality. For example, musicians, such as pianists, combine individually learned notes to create music that is greater than the SUM of its parts. In the motor system, compositionality is thought to be essential for executing sophisticated skills and serves as a mechanism for skill generalization. This process is affected by motor and cognitive disorders, such as apraxia, disrupting different aspects of the operation. Studying the neural mechanisms that support skill compositionality and generalization has been difficult due to: 1) a lack of behaviorally rich paradigms, 2) insufficient neural data for single-trial analysis and 3) the distributed nature of the brain regions involved. However, recent advances in the primary motor cortex (M1) suggest reuse of neural patterns for similarly learned skills, a requirement for compositionality. By investigating M1 and the lateral prefrontal cortex (LPFC), associated with decision and temporal-order signals, my project aims to understand the mechanisms underlying orchestration and execution of skill compositionality and generalization. To investigate how these two regions compose and execute a set of learned skills into complex, novel ones, I will train rhesus macaques on a behaviorally extensive force tracking paradigm. Compositionality will be encouraged by designing complex force patterns from simpler ones, while performing large-scale electrophysiology from both M1 and LPFC. I will elucidate the neural mechanisms that 1) allow encoding of a broad set of motor skills, 2) facilitate one-shot and few-shot skill learning, and 3) design and sequence compositional motor skills. These hypotheses will be evaluated using a large-set of behavioral conditions, vast amount of neural data (thousands of neurons per session), high-dimensional data analysis via a dynamical systems framework, and recurrent neural network modeling. This project will enhance my training during the fellowship period by developing my expertise in the motor system, dynamical systems framework, recurrent neural networks, and large-scale multi-region electrophysiology. I will be mentored by prof. Mark churchland, an expert in the motor system, dynamical systems approach, and large-scale neural recordings, and by prof. LEA duncker, whose computational expertise includes dynamical systems and recurrent neural networks. The zuckerman institute at columbia university is a premier neuroscience institute, with state-of-the-art facilities and research equipment needed for carrying out this research project. I am confident that, with the support of this award, my mentors, and the research environment, I will be well positioned to complete the proposed project and achieve my long-term career goal of establishing an independent neuroscience laboratory. Ultimately, my lab will focus on investigating hypotheses at the intersection of compositionality, generalization, decision-making, and metacognition.

Quick answers

Who received award F32NS148589?

F32NS148589 was awarded to The Trustees Of Columbia University In The City Of New York by National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (National Institutes of Health) on December 1, 2026.

How much is award F32NS148589 worth?

$76,780 has been obligated on F32NS148589.

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