The mechanisms of cognitive sequence control: Integrated studies in humans and animals
Advanced cognition requires ordering sequences of cognitive actions. I seek to understand this important but understudied capacity from single neurons to networks of brain areas. In humans, I employ functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) and cognitively demanding tasks. In animals, I conduct high-density recordings in a subset of parallel tasks, and bridge these models formally using animal fMRI.
Please see my lab web site for more details:
http://neuroscience.brown.edu/desrochers
Students interesed in joining the lab should please review the "Join Us" page.
People interested in participating in our experiments should please review the "Participate" page.
Yusif Rodriguez N, McKim TH, Basu D, Ahuja A, Desrochers TM. "Monkey Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex Represents Abstract Visual Sequences during a No-Report Task." Journal of Neuroscience, vol. 43, no. 15, 2023, pp. 2741-2755. |
Desrochers, Theresa M., Ahuja, Aarit, Maechler, Marvin R., Shires, Jorja, Yusif Rodriguez, Nadira, Berryhill, Marian E. "Caught in the ACTS: Defining Abstract Cognitive Task Sequences as an Independent Process." Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, vol. 34, no. 7, 2022, pp. 1103-1113. |
McKim TH, Desrochers TM. "Reward Value Enhances Sequence Monitoring Ramping Dynamics as Ending Rewards Approach in the Rostrolateral Prefrontal Cortex." eNeuro, vol. 9, no. 2, 2022. |
Conen, Katherine E., Desrochers, Theresa M. "The Neural Basis of Behavioral Sequences in Cortical and Subcortical Circuits." Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Neuroscience, 2022. |
PRIMatE Data and Resource Exchange (PRIME-DRE) Global Collaboration Workshop and Consortium. "Toward next-generation primate neuroscience: A collaboration-based strategic plan for integrative neuroimaging." Neuron, vol. 110, no. 1, 2022, pp. 16-20. |
Conen KE, Desrochers TM. "Unpacking self-ordered sequences." Neuron, vol. 110, no. 4, 2022, pp. 566-568. |
Ahuja A, Desrochers TM, Sheinberg DL. "A role for visual areas in physics simulations." Cognitive neuropsychology, vol. 38, no. 7-8, 2021, pp. 425-439. |
Trach JE, McKim TH, Desrochers TM. "Abstract sequential task control is facilitated by practice and embedded motor sequences." Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, vol. 47, no. 10, 2021, pp. 1638-1659. |
Berryhill ME, Desrochers TM. "Addressing the Gender Gap in Research: Insights from a Women in Neuroscience Conference." Trends in Neurosciences, vol. 44, no. 6, 2021, pp. 419-421. |
Szymula, Karol P., Pasqualetti, Fabio, Graybiel, Ann M., Desrochers, Theresa M., Bassett, Danielle S. "Habit learning supported by efficiently controlled network dynamics in naive macaque monkeys." 2020. |
Badre D, Desrochers TM. "Hierarchical cognitive control and the frontal lobes." Handbook of clinical neurology, vol. 163, 2019, pp. 165-177. |
Burnett CJ, Funderburk SC, Navarrete J, Sabol A, Liang-Guallpa J, Desrochers TM, Krashes MJ. "Need-based prioritization of behavior." eLife, vol. 8, 2019. |
Desrochers TM, Collins AGE, Badre D. "Sequential Control Underlies Robust Ramping Dynamics in the Rostrolateral Prefrontal Cortex." Journal of Neuroscience, vol. 39, no. 8, 2019, pp. 1471-1483. |
Desrochers, Theresa M., McKim, Theresa H. "What is a Sequence? The Neural Mechanisms of Perceptual, Motor, and Task Sequences Across Species and Their Interaction with Addiction." Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Neuroscience, 2019. |
Desrochers TM. "SRT is as easy as 12AKDB3." Nature Human Behaviour, vol. 2, no. 12, 2018, pp. 889-890. |
Desrochers, Theresa M., Burk, Diana C., Badre, David, Sheinberg, David L. "The Monitoring and Control of Task Sequences in Human and Non-Human Primates." Front. Syst. Neurosci., vol. 9, 2016, pp. 185. |
Desrochers TM, Amemori K, Graybiel AM. "Habit Learning by Naive Macaques Is Marked by Response Sharpening of Striatal Neurons Representing the Cost and Outcome of Acquired Action Sequences." Neuron, vol. 87, no. 4, 2015, pp. 853-68. |
Desrochers, Theresa M., Chatham, Christopher H., Badre, David. "The Necessity of Rostrolateral Prefrontal Cortex for Higher-Level Sequential Behavior." Neuron, vol. 87, no. 6, 2015, pp. 1357-1368. |
Feingold J, Desrochers TM, Fujii N, Harlan R, Tierney PL, Shimazu H, Amemori K, Graybiel AM. "A system for recording neural activity chronically and simultaneously from multiple cortical and subcortical regions in nonhuman primates." Journal of Neurophysiology, vol. 107, no. 7, 2012, pp. 1979-95. |
Desrochers, Theresa M., Badre, David. "Finding parallels in fronto-striatal organization." Trends in Cognitive Sciences, vol. 16, no. 8, 2012, pp. 407-8. |
Desrochers TM, Jin DZ, Goodman ND, Graybiel AM. "Optimal habits can develop spontaneously through sensitivity to local cost." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, vol. 107, no. 47, 2010, pp. 20512-7. |
Repa JC, Muller J, Apergis J, Desrochers TM, Zhou Y, LeDoux JE. "Two different lateral amygdala cell populations contribute to the initiation and storage of memory." Nature Neuroscience, vol. 4, no. 7, 2001, pp. 724-31. |
Year | Degree | Institution |
---|---|---|
2010 | PhD | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
2000 | BS | New York University |
Robert J. and Nancy D. Carney Institute for Brain Science
Assistant Professor (courtesy). Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, 2016- |
Assistant Professor. Department of Neuroscience, 2016- |
NEUR 2050 - Advanced Systems Neuroscience |