Research summary
Two of the brain’s most important functions are learning and remembering. We don’t know how the brain balances the plasticity it needs to learn with the stability it needs to remember—but answering this question could help explain mental illnesses, inspire next-generation artificial intelligence (AI), and inform new therapies and biotechnologies.
As Canada Research Chair in the Dynamics of Cognition, Dr. Becket Ebitz’s goal is to address this question using computational tools that can measure plasticity and stability in health and disease. He and his research team are determining how the brain chooses between stability and plasticity and testing how neural network dynamics support both. Ultimately, their research could have real-world impact in fields from health care to AI to biotechnology.