Â鶹Éç

The human brain is remarkably good at learning patterns of sensory information, e.g. sounds, in our surroundings. The inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) is known to be important for this probabilistic learning, but its functional role is intensely debated. This is partially because of the rather unique difference between hemispheres: While the left IFG has been mostly identified as a language area, the right IFG is highly active in motor tasks that require controlled stopping of a motion. We believe that the left IFG holds a map of probabilistic structure while the right maximizes the detection of the most probable sensory stimulus. 

To test this hypothesis, we will use a new sound sequence learning task paired with transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS). TMS lets us temporarily disturb the function of specific parts of the brain so we can directly measure the behavioral effect of not being able to properly use the left or right IFG. The results will be used to create a theory of how the brain is capable of probabilistic learning and will impact many aspects of neuroscience such as language, motor control, and music.