Gerhard Jocham

Research Group Leader of the CBBS Cognitive Neuroscience Lab, Faculty of Economics at the Otto von Guericke University Magdeburg

The central goal of our research is to understand the neural mechanisms of reward-guided learning and decision making. We use neuroimaging methods (fMRI, MRS, MEG) in combination with behaviour and computational modelling. Since an additional focus is on the neurochemistry of cognition, these approaches are often combined with drug challenges. Currently, my research group is particularly focussed on 1) the role of neural oscillations in learning and choice and 2) the interplay between decision making and associative memory mechanisms. The first aim revolves around the question how neuromodulators guide learning and choice by shaping representations of key computational parameters in patterns of oscillatory activity. The second aim is focused on how decision making is biased by associative memory mechanisms, acting particularly via conditional reinstatement of neural patterns encoding previous experiences.

Keywords: reinforcement learning – decision making – computational and systems neuroscience – neuropharmacology of cognition

Location: Located outside Magdeburg

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