Our brains evolved to predict. When you see the traffic lights turn orange, you can predict what colour they will turn next. When you turn your car steering wheel to the left, you can predict how the visual scene will move. Learning these predictions is a life long and dynamic process that allows us to plan ahead and rapidly execute movement.

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The Prediction and Plasticity lab is a systems neuroscience research group headed by Rebecca Jordan at the Simons Initiative for the Developing brain at the University of Edinburgh. We study the neurophysiological processes by which the brain learns to predict the sensory world, with particular focuses on the role of the cerebral cortex and neuromodulatory systems. In doing so we hope to understand how disruptions in this process lead to the expression of disorders of the brain, including autism spectrum disorder and psychosis.

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