Understanding thought processes

The aim of the Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics is to understand information processing in the brains of humans and animals. We use experimental, theoretical and computational methods to elucidate the characteristics and implementations of the cascades of plastic and recurrent interactions that transform sensory data into perceptions, memories, appropriate choices of actions, and motor output.

In the news: A critical switch that controls brain state

An international team of brain researchers achieved a breakthrough in uncovering a switch-like mechanism that flips the brain between two motivational states in larval zebrafish, a model organism in neuroscience. In one state, the fish slows down its movements and focuses on hunting for prey. In the opposing state, the animal speeds up and explores its environment. How the brain switches between states is a central mystery in neuroscience. By observing the activity of every neuron in the brain during foraging, the team was also able to pinpoint a central hub of serotonin-producing neurons that may act as a master regulator of brain state.