The Thalamus Conte Center is aimed at advancing our understanding on the role of higher order thalamus in cognition. Higher order thalamus is perturbed in schizophrenia, which may contribute to cognitive impairments and leading symptoms. Gaining a mechanistic understanding of thalamic function and interactions with cortex will be fundamental for developing therapeutic interventions that will target higher order thalamus in severe cases of schizophrenia.

The Latent Cause Inference (LCI) Center explores how we organize our thoughts and make sense of new information through a fundamental cognitive process called latent cause inference. Every piece of information that enters our brain is first categorized as pertaining to something we already know about (an old latent cause) or something completely new (a new latent cause). Latent cause inference is fundamental for cognition, it affects how we perceive the world, remember events and make decisions. LCI researchers study how differences in latent cause inference relate to mental health symptoms and the neural circuitry underlying latent cause inference.