In general, I’m interested in the neural and computational bases of generating internal representations to guide human natural behaviors. My research focuses on working memory(WM), a cognitive function used to maintain and manipulate information online. Here are some research questions that I am currently pursuing, with links to related projects.

Goal-directed neural representations

WM is essential for goal-directed behaviors. Even though there are many similarities between WM and sensory codes, WM formats can be more abstract and flexible, allowing them to meet different task demands. How do high-level task demands change neural codes in sensory areas? How do different brain regions (sensory and association cortex) interact to implement these functions?

• Visual working memories are abstractions of percepts
• Putting working memory to work

Neural codes for action planning

While maintaining the sensory information, brains need to transform neural activities from sensory codes to motor codes during motor planning. Do we have a domain-general planning system for different kinds of action planning? What are the fundamental differences between sensory and motor systems? In other words, what makes sensory areas sensory and what makes motor areas motor? How do they interact during the dynamic process?

• Effector general representation of movement goals in human frontal and parietal cortex
• Sensory codes in motor areas (ongoing)

Interactions between WM and LTM

Different memory systems interact to assist natural behaviors. On the one hand, how do neural signals of WM predict their fates in long-term memories? On the other hand, how does prior knowledge affect the current formation of WM representations?

• Temporal expectation triggers removal of irrelevant information from working memory that leads to forgetting

Research Methods

• 🙋‍♀️ Behavioral experiments: psychophysics, eye-tracking
• 🧠 Neuroscience: fMRI, EEG
• 💻 Computational modeling: machine learning, Bayesian modeling