Drew N. Robson
Max Planck Research Group Leader
Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics
At the Rowland, the RoLi Lab (Jennifer Li and Drew Robson) developed novel imaging systems and computational frameworks to flexibly address neurons throughout an entire vertebrate brain. Using techniques such as multi-photon microscopy, selective plane illumination microscopy (SPIM), and optogenetics, they dissected the interaction between neural networks in larval zebrafish. Specifically, they were interested in the neural circuitry that underlies reinforcement learning. The techniques that they developed would make it possible to rigorously test the involvement of multiple classes of reinforcement signals, clarify their interdependence, and raise new hypotheses about the organization of reinforcement circuitry in a vertebrate brain.