Neuromodulation of Neural Information Processing (Position Filled)

This project aims to study how arousal state modulates information processing in the brain. In the experiments, the pupil size is used to index arousal state (i.e. pupil-linked arousal) and we will characterize how the animals’ performance in performing a whisker deflection direction discrimination task is dependent upon the pupil-linked arousal. We will further manipulate the major neuromodulatory systems to examine how the activation of the systems dilates the pupil and modulate behavioral performance.