Erie Boorman
- Current job title: Sir Henry Wellcome Postdoctoral Research Fellow
- Current location: University of Oxford and UCL
- Field of research: Neurobiology of reinforcement learning and decision making
- Education history: Undergraduate degree, Stanford University (2004); Master's, University of Oxford (2006); PhD, University of Oxford (2010)
- Wellcome Trust awards: Wellcome Sir Henry Wellcome Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Wellcome Trust PhD
- Other awards: Wellcome Prize Studentship (MSc and DPhil, University of Oxford); Overseas Research Award (MSc and DPhil), University of Oxford; Summer Research College Award (BA), Stanford University
Tell us about your background.
I grew up in Santa Monica, California, and did my undergraduate degree at Stanford University in Palo Alto, California. I studied psychology, human biology and statistics with a focus on neuroscience. I already had a fairly firm idea of where I wanted to take my studies, so I took the plunge and moved across the pond to Oxford for my Master's in neuroscience and PhD in experimental psychology. That is when I got interested in the neurobiology of reinforcement learning and decision making.
Why did you choose your career?
Science was actually something I came into more later on. I have an identical twin brother, and it fascinated us both that we share the same genetic blueprint and yet are vastly different in personality and even physical structure. We both studied psychology, although at different universities, and the more I studied it, the more I realised it's all rooted in biology.
How would you describe your job?
I am doing experiments with people, working mostly on the computer, and testing human subjects and patients. I'm doing a bit of work on the rare neurological condition Urbach-Wiethe disease, which causes calcium deposits to be accumulated in the amygdalae regions of the brain; these regions are believed to important for reinforcement learning. I do lots of brain imaging, mainly using functional MRI. I am also working on a project with people who have seizure disorder and have multi-electrode implants to treat their seizures. We have the opportunity to record the activity of individual neurons in parts of the brain thought to be important for learning and decision making.
In lay terms, what's your science about?
Although we might be unaware of it, we are constantly building an internal model of the world around us. This helps us make choices, by allowing us to predict the consequences of our actions. I'm studying how the brain, at a basic level, is able to produce the internal model and then make choices. One of the brain areas I'm focusing on is the anterior prefrontal cortex, which has become more specialised in humans relative to other great apes. I want to know what aspects of sophisticated learning strategies and decision making are most distinctively human.
What are you working on at the moment?
We just published something in 'PLOS Biology' where we showed that, in addition to predicting the outcomes of our experiences, there appears to be a set of neighbouring brain regions that are assessing how good the next-best course of action might be. They're computing a 'plan B', even though the internal model says that 'plan A' is best.
What's the ultimate aim of your work?
I just find the topic fascinating, and the aim for me is to understand how we learn about the world and how we make choices. Of course, I am aware that on the one hand it might have implications in economics, medical decision making and policy decisions, but on the other hand it is believed more and more that the brain's internal model of the world is important in the development of schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders.
What are the difficulties and challenges of being a scientist, and how do you overcome them?
I think one of the major difficulties is doubt. Since we're effectively dedicated to discovery, the doubt that I might have made a mistake can be haunting. I have had sleepless nights - second-guessing myself can be quite taxing on my wife!
How has the Wellcome Trust award influenced your career decisions?
It has influenced them tremendously. It has allowed me to make an international collaboration between the neuroeconomists at Caltech and the decision-making researchers in Oxford, who have a background in cognitive neuroscience, engineering and artificial intelligence. I've been learning lots of techniques, such as economic modelling and statistical strategies.
What is the best part about doing science?
My favourite part is when you think you have made a true discovery and found something that is really interesting and right. The feeling that, "Oh my goodness, I really believe that we are onto something."
Sometimes in my line of work discovering something doesn't necessarily mean that it's right, because of the nature of the techniques and the subject matter, but the belief that something is correct comes from confirmation in additional studies using other techniques, from doing more experiments.
Who is your biggest role model?
I think it would be my PhD supervisor at the University of Oxford, Matthew Rushworth. He has managed to strike the perfect balance between being 'hands on' and 'hands off', really caring for each of the students and believing in the power of good education.
Who is your favourite living scientist?
Ethan Buch, because he's a good friend and colleague and I admire his research.
Who is your favourite scientist in popular culture?
Richard Dawkins, because he's so iconoclastic.
What music do you listen to at work?
While I am working I mainly listen to electronic music. I listen to a lot of Thievery Corporation; I like them, [they are] not too intrusive.
What are your hobbies?
I guess it would be travelling. I love camping, I love going to exotic new places and discovering a different culture, whether it is Brazil or Thailand. I think I am going to go to Beijing this year, and I hope to visit the Yellow Mountain. I'm also into soccer; Fulham is my team. I was able to watch them while I was living in Oxford.
If you weren’t a scientist, you would be…
I would probably be a data analyst for a company like Facebook or Google - the vast amount of data they have at their fingertips and the types of sociological questions that they can ask quantitatively is amazing. Although I've been tempted, I've decided to stay in academia because of the opportunity for intellectual freedom and wonderful collaborations.