Pioneering Neuroscientist to Kick off New Caltech Lecture Series

Wolfram Schultz, an award-winning neuroscientist and visiting associate at Caltech, will kick off a new distinguished lecture series on June 1 with a discussion on the biology behind learning and decision-making. 

 

Schultz, professor of neuroscience at University of Cambridge, has spent his career digging into the nuts and bolts of how neurons in the brain gauge potential rewards and connect them with past experiences. He was part of the first scientific team to record how individual neurons react during situations in which an organism satisfies its biological needs—while consuming food, for example—and to recognize how neurons guide learning .

 

"Wolfram is interested in one of the most basic parts of decision-making, which is neurons firing," says Colin Camerer, the Robert Kirby Professor of Behavioral Economics and the T&C Chen Center for Social and Decision Neuroscience Leadership Chair. "He is an enormous pioneer in decision neuroscience, and is constantly making new discoveries, too."

 

Schultz's research may provide insights into topics as widely varied as consumer choice, Parkinson's disease, gambling addiction, and economics. For his work, he was awarded the 2017 Brain Prize, an honor that recognizes scientists for significant achievements in neuroscience. 

 

Schultz's lecture, "Neuronal Signals for Economic Utility," will serve as the inaugural event of the T&C Chen Center for Social and Decision Neuroscience Distinguished Lecture series, which aims to make neuroscience topics accessible to the public.

 

Schultz's talk will be held in the Beckman Institute auditorium on June 1 at 4 p.m. It is free and open to the public. For more information on Schultz's talk, or the lecture series, email hss@caltech.edu.