Project description
Dopamine and learning styles
Individuals have very different learning styles, and as they advance from beginners to experts, they follow different paths. Although this diversity is evident in classrooms and workplaces, the brain mechanisms that shape individual learning trajectories remain unclear. Recent research in mice shows that dopamine signals in the brain serve as teaching cues that direct these transitions. The ERC-funded LearningTrajectories project proposes that brain circuits are affected by different dopamine signals, leading to varied learning strategies. Research into the interactions between various brain regions will reveal how particular neural circuits influence individual learning trajectories. Collectively, project findings will also provide important insight into how cognitive disorders impact adaptive learning.
Objective
Individuals learn in drastically diverse ways, whether at school, at work or when pursuing their hobby. In their journey from naïve to expert individuals discover distinct strategies for learning, forming diverse learning trajectories. However, the neuronal circuit computations that account for these learning trajectories are poorly understood. My lab's recent work found that in learning to make visual decisions from naïve to expert mice transition through sequence of strategies, showing substantial individual diversity in their learning trajectories. We discovered that dopamine signals in the dorsal striatum act as teaching signals that guide individual learning trajectories. Building up on these, I hypothesize that dopamine neurons broadcast heterogenous teaching signals that regulate neuronal responses within distinct striatal and frontal circuits, promoting different strategies during learning and governing diverse learning trajectories. We will test this overarching hypothesis in the following aims:
I) Establish whether dopamine signals arriving in different striatal and cortical regions play separate roles in governing learning trajectories.
II) Define frontal cortical signals during learning, and identify the role of distinct frontostriatal circuits in guiding learning.
III) Determine the contribution of distinct striatal circuits in shaping individual learning trajectories.
The project delivers unparalleled insights into neuronal circuit computations underlying individual learning trajectories from naïve to expert, and may offer insights into cognitive disorders linked to failures in these processes.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
This project's classification has been human-validated.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
This project's classification has been human-validated.
Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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HORIZON.1.1 - European Research Council (ERC)
MAIN PROGRAMME
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Topic(s)
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Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
HORIZON-ERC - HORIZON ERC Grants
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Call for proposal
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Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) ERC-2025-COG
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
OX1 2JD Oxford
United Kingdom
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