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Adam Kepecs
Prof., WashU
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About
Adam Kepecs was a postdoc in the Mainen Lab from 2003-2008, where he worked on projects involving the orbitofrontal cortex, confidence and decision-making, and olfactory decision-making. His research focuses on the neural mechanisms underlying decision-making processes, particularly how the brain represents confidence and uncertainty, with extensive work on cortical circuits, neurotransmitter systems including dopamine and acetylcholine, and the cellular basis of cognitive functions. He is currently a Professor at Washington University in St. Louis.
Complete Publications
h-index: 42 | Total papers: 100 | Lab papers: 17 | Sources: S2 (2026-03-30)
An X, Li Y, Matho K, Mohan H, Xu XH, Boato F, Whishaw IQ, Kepecs A, Huang ZJ. A cortical circuit for orchestrating oromanual food manipulation . Neuron , 2026.
An X, Matho K, Li Y, Mohan H, Xu XH, Whishaw I, Kepecs A, Huang ZJ. A cortical circuit for orchestrating oromanual food manipulation . Research Square , 2025. Citations: 8
Fischer KB, Collins HK, Pang Y, Roy DS, Zhang Y, Feng G, Li S, Kepecs A, Callaway E. Monosynaptic restriction of the anterograde herpes simplex virus strain H129 for neural circuit tracing . The Journal of comparative neurology , 2023. Citations: 5
Rózsa B, Szadai Z, Judák L, Chiovini B, Juhász G, ... et al.. Imaging of dendrites and sparse interneuronal networks with 3D random access microscopy . Biophotonics Congress: Optics in the Life Sciences 2023 (OMA, NTM, BODA, OMP, BRAIN) , 2023.
Szadai Z, Pi H, Chevy Q, Ócsai K, Albeanu DF, Chiovini B, Szalay G, Katona G, Kepecs A, Rózsa B. Cortex-wide response mode of VIP-expressing inhibitory neurons by reward and punishment . eLife , 2022. Citations: 34
Christensen A, Ott T, Kepecs A. Cognition and the single neuron: How cell types construct the dynamic computations of frontal cortex . Current Opinion in Neurobiology , 2022. Citations: 21
Szadai Z, Pi H, Chevy Q, Ócsai K, Albeanu F, Chiovini B, Szalay G, Katona G, Kepecs A, Rózsa B. Cortex-wide fast activation of VIP-expressing inhibitory neurons by reward and punishment . bioRxiv , 2022.
Schmack K, Bosc M, Ott T, Sturgill J, Kepecs A. Striatal dopamine mediates hallucination-like perception in mice . Science , 2021. Citations: 184
Joo HR, Liang H, Chung JE, Geaghan-Breiner C, Fan J, Nachman B, Kepecs A, Frank L. Rats use memory confidence to guide decisions. . Current Biology , 2021. Citations: 16
Ott T, Masset P, Gouvêa TS, Kepecs A. Apparent sunk cost effect in rational agents . bioRxiv , 2021. Citations: 9
Fishell G, Kepecs A. Interneuron Types as Attractors and Controllers. . Annual Review of Neuroscience , 2020. Citations: 182
Masset P, Ott T, Lak A, Hirokawa J, Kepecs A. Behavior- and Modality-General Representation of Confidence in Orbitofrontal Cortex. . Cell , 2020. Citations: 92
Lak A, Hueske E, Hirokawa J, Masset P, Ott T, ... et al.. Reinforcement biases subsequent perceptual decisions when confidence is low, a widespread behavioral phenomenon . eLife , 2020. Citations: 87
Demir E, Li K, Bobrowski-Khoury N, Sanders JI, Beynon R, Hurst J, Kepecs A, Axel R. The pheromone darcin drives a circuit for innate and reinforced behaviours . Nature , 2020. Citations: 59
Laszlovszky T, Schlingloff D, Hegedüs P, Freund T, Gulyás A, Kepecs A, Hangya B. Distinct synchronization, cortical coupling and behavioral function of two basal forebrain cholinergic neuron types . Nature Neuroscience , 2020. Citations: 55
Sturgill J, Hegedus P, Li S, Chevy Q, Siebels A, Jing M, Li Y, Hangya B, Kepecs A. Basal forebrain-derived acetylcholine encodes valence-free reinforcement prediction error . bioRxiv , 2020. Citations: 27
Bonda DJ, Wulf M, Kepecs A. A Functional Circuit for Executive Control . Neurosurgery , 2020.
Joo HR, Liang H, Chung JE, Geaghan-Breiner C, Fan J, Nachman B, Kepecs A, Frank L. Total recall: episodic memory retrieval, choice, and memory confidence in the rat . bioRxiv , 2020.
Laszlovszky T, Schlingloff D, Hegedüs P, Freund T, Gulyás A, Kepecs A, Hangya B. Publisher Correction: Distinct synchronization, cortical coupling and behavioral function of two basal forebrain cholinergic neuron types . Nature Neuroscience , 2020.
Richards B, Lillicrap T, Beaudoin P, Bengio Y, Bogacz R, ... et al.. A deep learning framework for neuroscience . Nature Neuroscience , 2019. Citations: 954
Hirokawa J, Vaughan A, Masset P, Ott T, Kepecs A. Frontal cortex neuron types categorically encode single decision variables . Nature , 2019. Citations: 180
Lak A, Okun M, Moss MM, Gurnani H, Farrell K, Wells M, Reddy CB, Kepecs A, Harris K, Carandini M. Dopaminergic and Prefrontal Basis of Learning from Sensory Confidence and Reward Value . Neuron , 2019. Citations: 127
Laszlovszky T, Schlingloff D, Freund T, Gulyás A, Kepecs A, Hangya B. Distinct synchronization, cortical coupling and behavioural function of basal forebrain cholinergic neuron types . bioRxiv , 2019. Citations: 14
Ott T, Masset P, Kepecs A. The Neurobiology of Confidence: From Beliefs to Neurons. . Cold Spring Harbor Symposia on Quantitative Biology , 2019. Citations: 13
Fishell G, Kepecs A. Annual Review of Neuroscience Interneuron Types as Attractors and Controllers. 2019. Citations: 2
Kepecs A. A Conversation with Adam Kepecs. . Cold Spring Harbor Symposia on Quantitative Biology , 2019.
Kepecs A. Summary: Order and Disorder in Brains and Behavior. . Cold Spring Harbor Symposia on Quantitative Biology , 2019.
Kepecs A. Erratum: Summary: Order and Disorder in Brains and Behavior. . Cold Spring Harbor Symposia on Quantitative Biology , 2019.
Mohanty A, Li Q, Tadayon MA, Roberts S, Bhatt G, ... et al.. Reconfigurable nanophotonic silicon probes for sub-millisecond deep-brain optical stimulation . Nature Biomedical Engineering , 2018. Citations: 146
Li S, Vaughan A, Sturgill J, Kepecs A. A Viral Receptor Complementation Strategy to Overcome CAV-2 Tropism for Efficient Retrograde Targeting of Neurons. . Neuron , 2018. Citations: 62
Chevy Q, Kepecs A. When Acetylcholine Unlocks Feedback Inhibition in Cortex. . Neuron , 2018. Citations: 5
Lak A, Okun M, Okun M, Moss MM, Gurnani H, ... et al.. Neural basis of learning guided by sensory confidence and reward value . 2018. Citations: 5
Mohanty A, Li Q, Tadayon MA, Bhatt G, Shim E, Ji X, Cardenas J, Miller SA, Kepecs A, Lipson M. An Active Visible Nanophotonics Platform for Sub-Millisecond Deep Brain Neural Stimulation . Conference on Lasers and Electro-Optics , 2018. Citations: 3
Kepecs A. John Lisman 1944–2017 . Nature Neuroscience , 2018. Citations: 1
Lak A, Nomoto K, Keramati M, Sakagami M, Kepecs A. Midbrain Dopamine Neurons Signal Belief in Choice Accuracy during a Perceptual Decision. . Current Biology , 2017. Citations: 147
Hirokawa J, Vaughan A, Kepecs A. Categorical representations of decision-variables in orbitofrontal cortex . bioRxiv , 2017. Citations: 11
Hangya B, Laszlovszky T, Hegedus P, Ranade S, Lorenc M, Kepecs A. The role of the basal forebrain in associative learning. 2017.
Mohanty A, Li Q, Tadayon MA, Bhatt G, Cardenas J, Miller SA, Kepecs A, Lipson M. Reconfigurable visible nanophotonic switch for optogenetic applications (Conference Presentation) . BiOS , 2017.
Pouget A, Drugowitsch J, Kepecs A. Confidence and certainty: distinct probabilistic quantities for different goals . Nature Neuroscience , 2016. Citations: 441
Sanders JI, Hangya B, Kepecs A. Signatures of a Statistical Computation in the Human Sense of Confidence. . Neuron , 2016. Citations: 231
Vogelstein J, Mensh B, Häusser M, Spruston N, Evans AC, ... et al.. To the Cloud! A Grassroots Proposal to Accelerate Brain Science Discovery. . Neuron , 2016. Citations: 45
Kobak D, Brendel W, Constantinidis C, Feierstein C, Kepecs A, Mainen Z, Qi X, Romo R, Uchida N, Machens C. Author response: Demixed principal component analysis of neural population data lab . 2016. Citations: 10
Tadayon MA, Li Q, Mohanty A, St-Gelais R, Kepecs A, Lipson M. Integrated nanophotonic platform for high bandwidth and high resolution optogenetic excitation . Conference on Lasers and Electro-Optics , 2016. Citations: 2
Hangya B, Ranade S, Lorenc M, Kepecs A. Central Cholinergic Neurons Are Rapidly Recruited by Reinforcement Feedback. . Cell , 2015. Citations: 365
Lin S, Brown RE, Shuler MGH, Petersen C, Kepecs A. Optogenetic Dissection of the Basal Forebrain Neuromodulatory Control of Cortical Activation, Plasticity, and Cognition . Journal of Neuroscience , 2015. Citations: 114
Hangya B, Sanders JI, Kepecs A. A mathematical framework for statistical decision confidence . bioRxiv , 2015. Citations: 77
Kepecs A, Mensh B. Emotor control: computations underlying bodily resource allocation, emotions, and confidence . Dialogues in Clinical Neuroscience , 2015. Citations: 7
Hangya B, Kepecs A. Vision: how to train visual cortex to predict reward time. . Current Biology , 2015. Citations: 6
Senturk S, Shirole NH, Nowak D, Corbo V, Vaughan A, Tuveson D, Trotman L, Kepecs A, Stegmeier F, Sordella R. A rapid and tunable method to temporally control Cas9 expression enables the identification of essential genes and the interrogation of functional gene interactions in vitro and in vivo . bioRxiv , 2015. Citations: 4
MacVicar B, Kepecs A, Raghavachari S, Moyer JT, Wolf J, Finkel L, Evans R, Herin GA, Hawes S, Blackwell K. From Rat Nucleus Accumbens Channels in Neurons Isolated 2+ Voltage-Dependent Ca Biophysical and Pharmacological Characterization of. 2015.
Kepecs A, Fishell G. Interneuron cell types are fit to function . Nature , 2014. Citations: 1048
Kobak D, Brendel W, Constantinidis C, Feierstein C, Kepecs A, Mainen Z, Qi X, Romo R, Uchida N, Machens C. Demixed principal component analysis of neural population data lab . eLife , 2014. Citations: 537
Lak A, Costa GM, Romberg E, Koulakov A, Mainen Z, Kepecs A. Orbitofrontal cortex is required for optimal waiting based on decision confidence. lab . Neuron , 2014. Citations: 218
Hangya B, Pi H, Kvitsiani D, Ranade S, Kepecs A. Author ' s personal copy From circuit motifs to computations : mapping the behavioral repertoire of cortical interneurons. 2014. Citations: 87
Sanders JI, Kepecs A. A low-cost programmable pulse generator for physiology and behavior . Frontiers in Neuroengineering , 2014. Citations: 74
Ranade S, Pi H, Kepecs A. Neuroscience: Waiting for Serotonin lab . Current Biology , 2014. Citations: 57
Takada N, Pi H, Sousa V, Waters J, Fishell G, Kepecs A, Osten P. A developmental cell-type switch in cortical interneurons leads to a selective defect in cortical oscillations . Nature Communications , 2014. Citations: 44
Kepecs A, Mainen Z. A Computational Framework for the Study of Confidence Across Species lab . 2014. Citations: 9
Masset P, Kepecs A. Categorical Decisions . Encyclopedia of Computational Neuroscience , 2014. Citations: 3
Bazsó F, Kepecs A, Lengyel M, Payrits S, Szalisznyó K, Zalányi L, Érdi P. Single cell and population activities in the olfactory bulb and the hippocampus. 2014.
Pi H, Hangya B, Kvitsiani D, Sanders JI, Huang ZJ, Kepecs A. Cortical interneurons that specialize in disinhibitory control . Nature , 2013. Citations: 1089
Kvitsiani D, Ranade S, Hangya B, Taniguchi H, Huang J, Kepecs A. Distinct behavioural and network correlates of two interneuron types in prefrontal cortex . Nature , 2013. Citations: 500
Ranade S, Hangya B, Kepecs A. Multiple Modes of Phase Locking between Sniffing and Whisking during Active Exploration . Journal of Neuroscience , 2013. Citations: 87
Zariwala HA, Kepecs A, Uchida N, Hirokawa J, Mainen Z. The limits of deliberation in a perceptual decision task. lab . Neuron , 2013. Citations: 80
Kepecs A. The uncertainty of it all . Nature Neuroscience , 2013. Citations: 6
Kepecs A. Two studies in this issue report the discovery of different types of uncertainty signals in little-studied, but critical, regions of the forebrain: decision confidence in the pulvinar and reward risk in the anterodorsal septum.. 2013.
Kepecs A, Mainen Z. A computational framework for the study of confidence in humans and animals lab . Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences , 2012. Citations: 275
Sanders JI, Kepecs A. Choice ball: a response interface for two-choice psychometric discrimination in head-fixed mice. . Journal of Neurophysiology , 2012. Citations: 50
Kepecs A. Neuroscience: My brain made me do it . Nature , 2011. Citations: 2
Kepecs A. Talk from Adam Kepecs at the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory In-House Symposium (2011). 2011.
Mainen Z, Kepecs A. Neural representation of behavioral outcomes in the orbitofrontal cortex. lab . Current Opinion in Neurobiology , 2009. Citations: 77
Kepecs A. Decisions, decisions... lab . Nature , 2009. Citations: 1
Poeppel D, Brown M, Solomon S, Coyne J, Wang M, ... et al.. A break from the bench . Nature , 2009.
Kepecs A, Uchida N, Zariwala HA, Mainen Z. Neural correlates, computation and behavioural impact of decision confidence lab . Nature , 2008. Citations: 812
Kepecs A, Uchida N, Mainen Z. Graded prediction error signal drives behavioral choice biases in rats lab . 2008. Citations: 1
Kepecs A, Uchida N, Mainen Z. Rapid and precise control of sniffing during olfactory discrimination in rats. lab . Journal of Neurophysiology , 2007. Citations: 190
Kepecs A, Raghavachari S. Gating information by two-state membrane potential fluctuations. . Journal of Neurophysiology , 2007. Citations: 24
Zariwala HA, Kepecs A, Uchida N, Mainen Z. Temporal anticipation affects decision-making in an olfactory discrimination task lab . 2007.
Kepecs A, Uchida N, Mainen Z. Uncertainty Representation in Orbitofrontal Cortex during Decision-Making in Rats lab . 2007.
Kepecs A, Raghavachari S. Kepecs and S . Raghavachari Potential Fluctuations Gating Information by Two-State Membrane. 2007.
Kepecs A, Uchida N, Mainen Z. The sniff as a unit of olfactory processing. lab . Chemical Sensors , 2006. Citations: 331
Uchida N, Kepecs A, Mainen Z. Seeing at a glance, smelling in a whiff: rapid forms of perceptual decision making lab . Nature Reviews Neuroscience , 2006. Citations: 243
Kepecs A, Lisman J. How to read a burst duration code . Neurocomputing , 2004. Citations: 26
Brody C, Romo R, Kepecs A. Basic mechanisms for graded persistent activity: discrete attractors, continuous attractors, and dynamic representations. . Current Opinion in Neurobiology , 2003. Citations: 276
Kepecs A, Lisman J. Information encoding and computation with spikes and bursts . Network , 2003. Citations: 191
Koulakov A, Raghavachari S, Kepecs A, Lisman J. Model for a robust neural integrator . Nature Neuroscience , 2002. Citations: 321
Kepecs A, Wang X, Lisman J. Bursting Neurons Signal Input Slope . Journal of Neuroscience , 2002. Citations: 212
Kepecs A, Rossum MV, Song S, Tegnér J. Spike-timing-dependent plasticity: common themes and divergent vistas . Biological cybernetics , 2002. Citations: 132
Tegnér J, Kepecs A. An adaptive spike-timing-dependent plasticity rule . Neurocomputing , 2002. Citations: 8
Tegnér J, Kepecs A. Why Neuronal Dynamics Should Control Synaptic Learning Rules . Neural Information Processing Systems , 2001. Citations: 12
Kepecs A, Raghavachari S. 3 State Neurons for Contextual Processing. Neural Information Processing Systems , 2001. Citations: 5
Kepecs A, Wang X. Analysis of complex bursting in cortical pyramidal neuron models . Neurocomputing , 2000. Citations: 62
Bazsó F, Kepecs A, Lengyel M, Payrits S, Szalisznyó K, Zalányi L, Érdi P. Single Cell and Population Activities in Cortical-like Systems . Reviews in the Neurosciences , 1999. Citations: 5
Lengyel M, Kepecs A, Érdi P. Location-dependent differences between somatic and dendritic IPSPs . Neurocomputing , 1999. Citations: 1
Érdi P, Kepecs A, Lengyel M, Obermayer K, Szatmáry Z. Dynamics of the Hippocampus: Multiple Strategies. International Conference on Neural Information Processing , 1998. Citations: 2
Érdi P, Lengyel M, Obermayer K, Kepecs A. Dynamics of The Hippocampus : Multiple Strategies (Invited. 1998.
Adorján P, Barna G, Érdi P, Grőbler T, Kepecs A, Lengyel M, Ventriglia F. Multicompartmental modeling of hippocampal pyramidal cells and interneurons with the GENESIS software tool.. Neurobiology , 1996. Citations: 4
Schmack K, Bosc M, Sturgill J, Ott T, Kepecs A. Hallucination-Like Perception in Mice Provides Neural-Circuit Insights Into Dopamine Hypothesis of Psychosis . Biological Psychiatry , . Citations: 2
Kepecs A, Uchida N, Zariwala HA, Mainen Z. Neural Correlates, Computation and Behavioural Impact of Decision Confidence lab . .
Lak A, Hueske E, Hirokawa J, Masset P, Ott T, ... et al.. Reinforcement biases subsequent perceptual decisions when 1 confidence is low : a widespread behavioral phenomenon 2 3. . At the Mainen Lab
Postdoc, 2003–2008
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