The overall goal of the Sommer lab is to understand circuits for cognition. We perform basic research on the neural basis of perception, decision-making, and action, complemented by neural engineering to translate our findings into technologies for people with brain disorders. Our approach is to quantify the behavior of humans and non-human animals as they make decisions, and to record from and manipulate neural activity in brain areas of animals engaged in cognitive tasks. Recent studies from our lab have investigated
1) the role of frontal cortex in high level decision-making, such as metacognition (remembering or controlling our decisions) and satisficing (making decisons under pressure),
2) the neuronal basis for transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), and
3) the perception of visual stability as we move our eyes.