MPRG NeuroCode | Neural and Computational Basis of Learning, Memory and Decision Making

The Max Planck Research Group NeuroCode (headed by Prof Dr Nicolas Schuck) investigated until December 2023 how learning experiences influence our decisions.

In their work, the research group focussed on how memories affect our decisions and how, in turn, the focus on a particular decision influences our learning.

They focussed on two phenomena: firstly, the fact that the brain reactivates memories during short breaks and sleep, called replay; and secondly, that prefrontal areas of the brain in particular form representations tailored to the current task.

In the years of their work, the group has investigated these phenomena using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), a brain imaging technique. Models from artificial intelligence research were used both to gain theoretical insights into brain activation patterns and to analyse brain data. The results of the research group have led, among other things, to new methods for measuring spontaneous memory reactivation in the human brain and for better understanding the principles of prefrontal brain activity.

Research period: September 1, 2017, to December 31, 2023