Rich Lab

Neurophysiology of Affect and Cognition

Research

Cognitive processes emerge from the collective activity of interacting neurons. The primary goal of the Rich Lab is to understand the links between the emergent structure and dynamics of neural activity and advanced cognition. Our ongoing work is focused on processes involved in evaluation and value-based choice in the orbitofrontal cortex, and the use of mnemonic strategies in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. We aim to provide insights that not only advance our understanding of basic brain function, but also help refine neuromodulation approaches that alter neural activity to achieve therapeutic benefits.

Publications via PubMed

Contact Us

Rich Laboratory
Erin L Rich, MD, PhD
Associate Professor, Neuroscience
Location
Office: HESS CSM 10-115
Phone
Office: 212.824.9304
Email

Publications

2023

Abstraction of reward context facilitates relative reward coding in neural populations of the macaque anterior cingulate cortex

Chien, JM, Wallis, JD, Rich, EL.

Journal of Neuroscience. 2023 doi: https://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0292-23.2023

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Multi-attribute decision-making in macaques relies on direct attribute comparisons

Perkins, AQ, Gillis, ZS, Rich, EL

bioRxiv 2023.10.22.563329; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2023.10.22.563329

2022

Cognitive strategies shift information from single neurons to populations in prefrontal cortex

Chiang, FK, Wallis, JD, and Rich, EL.

Neuron. 2022 Feb 16;110(4):709-721.e4. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2021.11.021.

Preview by Conen and Desrochers

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Abstraction of reward context facilitates relative reward coding in dorsal and ventral anterior cingulate cortex

Chien, JM, Wallis, JD, Rich, EL.

BioRxiv. 2022 doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2022.12.10.519901

2021

From affective to cognitive processing: Functional organization of the medial frontal cortex

Simon, J, Rudebeck, PH, Rich EL.

In: Roesch, M., Amarante, L., Laubach, M., Brockett, A. (Eds.) What does Medial Frontal Cortex Signal During Behavior? Insights from Behavioral Neurophysiology. International Review of Neurobiology, 2021 Vol 161. Academic Press. https://doi.org/10.1016/bs.irn.2020.11.011

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Heterogeneous value coding in orbitofrontal populations

Enel, P, Perkins, AQ, Rich, EL.

Behav Neurosci. 2021 Apr;135(2):245-254. doi: 10.1037/bne0000457.

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Identifying identity and attributing value to attributes: reconsidering mechanisms of preference decisions

Perkins, AQ and Rich, EL.

Curr Opin Behav Sci. 2021 Oct;41:98-105. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cobeha.2021.04.019.

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TRAKR – A reservoir-based tool for fast and accurate classification of neural time-series patterns

Afzal, MF, Márton, CD, Rich, EL and Rajan, K.

bioRxiv. 2021 Oct. doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.10.13.464288.

2020

Stable and dynamic representations of value in the prefrontal cortex

Enel, P, Wallis, JD, Rich EL.

Elife. 2020 Jul 6;9e54313. doi: 10.7554/eLife.54313.

2019

Stable and dynamic representations of value in the prefrontal cortex

Enel, P, Wallis, JD, Rich EL.

BioRxiv, 2019. doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/794685

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From bed to bench side: reverse translation to optimize neuromodulation for mood disorders.

Rudebeck, P.H., Rich, E.L., Mayberg, H.S.

Proc Natl Acad Sci. 2019 Dec;116 (52) 26288-26296. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1902287116

2018

Linking dynamic patterns of neural activity in orbitofrontal cortex with decision making.

Rich EL, Stoll FM, Rudebeck PH.

Curr Opin Neurobiol. 2018 Apr;49:24-32. doi: 10.1016/j.conb.2017.11.002

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Orbitofrontal cortex

Rudebeck PH, Rich EL.

Curr Biol. 2018 Sep 24;28(18):R1083-R1088. doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2018.07.018

2017

Caudate Microstimulation Increases Value of Specific Choices .

Santacruz SR, Rich EL, Wallis JD, Carmena JM. Curr Biol. 2017 Nov 6;27(21):3375-3383.e3. Epub 2017 Oct 26. PMID: 29107551

Spatiotemporal dynamics of information encoding revealed in orbitofrontal high-gamma.

Rich EL, Wallis JD. Nat Commun. 2017 Oct 26;8(1):1139. PMID: 29074960

2016

natneuro jul2016 cover Decoding subjective decisions from orbitofrontal cortex.
Rich EL, Wallis JD.
Nat Neurosci. 2016 Jul;19(7):973-80. doi: 10.1038/nn.4320. Epub 2016 Jun 6. PMID 27273768

Faculty of 1000 review

Commentary by Conen and Padoa-Schioppa

What stays the same in orbitofrontal cortex.
Rich EL, Wallis JD.
Nat Neurosci. 2016 May 26;19(6):768-70. doi: 10.1038/nn.4305. PMID: 27227365.

2014

Medial-lateral organization of the orbitofrontal cortex.
Rich EL, Wallis JD.
J Cogn Neurosci. 2014 Jul;26(7):1347-62. doi: 10.1162/jocn_a_00573. Epub 2014 Jan 9. PMID: 24405106

2013

Prefrontal-amygdala interactions underlying value coding.
Rich EL, Wallis JD.
Neuron. 2013 Dec 18;80(6):1344-6. doi: 10.1016/j.neuron.2013.11.027. PMID: 24360539

2012

jpsychres cover Striatal activity in borderline personality disorder with comorbid intermittent explosive disorder: sex differences.
Perez-Rodriguez MM, Hazlett EA, Rich EL, Ripoll LH, Weiner DM, Spence N, Goodman M, Koenigsberg HW, Siever LJ, New AS.
J Psychiatr Res. 2012 Jun;46(6):797-804. doi: 10.1016/j.jpsychires.2012.02.014. Epub 2012 Mar 29. PMID: 22464337

2011

Challenges of Interpreting Frontal Neurons during Value-Based Decision-Making.
Wallis JD, Rich EL.
Front Neurosci. 2011 Nov 22;5:124. doi: 10.3389/fnins.2011.00124. eCollection 2011. PMID: 22125508

2009 & earlier

jneurosci jun2009 cover Rat prefrontal cortical neurons selectively code strategy switches.
Rich EL, Shapiro M.
J Neurosci. 2009 Jun 3;29(22):7208-19. doi: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.6068-08.2009. PMID: 19494143

Faculty of 1000 review

jneurosci sept2008 cover The neurotrophin-inducible gene Vgf regulates hippocampal function and behavior through a brain-derived neurotrophic factor-dependent mechanism.
Bozdagi O, Rich E, Tronel S, Sadahiro M, Patterson K, Shapiro ML, Alberini CM, Huntley GW, Salton SR.
J Neurosci. 2008 Sep 24;28(39):9857-69. doi: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.3145-08.2008. PMID: 18815270

Faculty of 1000 review

Prelimbic/infralimbic inactivation impairs memory for multiple task switches, but not flexible selection of familiar tasks.
Rich EL, Shapiro ML.
J Neurosci. 2007 Apr 25;27(17):4747-55. PMID: 17460087

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Photoperiodically-induced changes in hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis sensitivity in captive house sparrows (Passer domesticus).

Romero LM, Rich EL. Comp Biochem Physiol A Mol Integr Physiol. 2007 Jun;147(2):562-8. Epub 2007 Feb 11. PMID: 17363309

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Exposure to chronic stress downregulates corticosterone responses to acute stressors.

Rich EL, Romero LM. Am J Physiol Regul Integr Comp Physiol. 2005 Jun;288(6):R1628-36. PMID: 15886358

Faculty of 1000 review

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Daily and photoperiod variations of basal and stress-induced corticosterone concentrations in house sparrows (Passer domesticus).

Rich EL, Romero LM. J Comp Physiol B. 2001 Oct;171(7):543-7. PMID: 11686612

Rich Lab

Open positions

We are currently seeking a postdoctoral researcher to join the lab. Experience in animal behavior, electrophysiology, and/or computational methods a plus. Contact Erin if interested.

Feng-Kuei Chiang

Instructor

I am interested in cognitive functions of prefrontal cortex, which include working memory, hierarchical learning, and decision-making. Mainly, how prefrontal areas dynamically encode a series of actions/events under the sequential or hierarchical tasks.

feng-kuei.chiang (at) mssm (dot) edu

Twitter

Joseph Simon

PhD Student

Joe is a senior PhD candidate in the lab studying social information processing during decision-making. He attended the University of California, Los Angeles, where he earned his Bachelor of Science in Neuroscience in 2014. Next, he completed a post-bac here at Mount Sinai before starting his PhD in 2017. Joe’s thesis work focuses on the integration of social information during reward localization. His project’s goal is to understand how social information, with respect to nonsocial information, is encoded in the brain when making decisions. Joe was awarded the NIH D-SPAN F99/K00 in 2022; and, following the completion of his PhD, plans to continue research related to social cognition and behavior. Outside of the lab, Joe is interested in photography and a love for penguins.

Awarded: NIH Blueprint D-SPAN Award (F99/K00) 2022

joseph.simon (at) icahn.mssm (dot) edu

Aster Perkins

PhD Student

I am interested in the neural computations underlying complex cognition. My current project seeks to investigate the neural underpinnings of goal-directed decision making in the context of options with multiple goal-relevant features, such as sweetness and likelihood. I hope to understand the role of the orbitofrontal cortex in using information about options to make decisions, as well as the influence of attentional processes on decision making.