Brown Foundation Endowed Chair, Professor, Neuroscience, Founder and Director, Center for Neuroscience and Artificial Intelligence, Baylor College of Medicine
The goal of our research team is to unravel the elementary principles that underlie cortical computations in our quest to discover the canonical algorithm(s) implemented by cortical microcircuits. We study cortical function in vivo in behaving animals at the circuit level by following a multidisciplinary approach: we combine electrophysiological and two-photon imaging methods for multi-neuronal recording with molecular techniques for circuit tracing and manipulation. We use computational and theoretical methods for data analysis and for modeling cortical circuit function. Currently, our work focuses on the visual system of mice and non-human primates. Our goal is to follow a cross-species and cross-cortical area comparison in order to identify similarities and differences between the algorithms of the necortex. We hope that this approach will provide a unique window to study the evolution of the neocortex. Numerous neuropsychiatric illnesses such as autism spectrum disorders, stroke, Alzheimer's disease and schizophrenia are associated with cortical malfunction, underscoring the importance of understanding how the neocortex works. Our research team has also a strong focus in developing new methods to study the functional organization of cortical circuits in vivo. For example in collaboration with Dr. Peter Saggau we have developed a fast in vivo 3D two-photon microscope based on 3D random-access multi-photon excitation. This microscope employs a series of acousto-optical deflectors that enable us to generate arbitrary 3D scanning paths at frame rates two orders of magnitude faster than current state-of-the-art two-photon imaging systems. We are also working on developing novel chronic high-density multi-electrode recording methods.
Publications/Creative Works
Click here to search for this faculty member's publications on PubMed.
Affiliations
Research Consortia
GCC for Theoretical Neuroscience
Gulf Coast Cluster for NeuroEngineering
Training Grants
NeuroEngineering IGERT
Research Consortia
Gulf Coast Consortium for Theoretical and Computational Neuroscience
Important Disclaimer: The responsibility for the accuracy of the information contained on these pages lies with the authors and user providing such information.