We Find Balance in Research

We aim to help resolve how vestibular-visual interactions adapt over the course of learning in the anatomically constrained vestibulo-ocular (VOR) circuit. This will provide a fuller understanding of vestibular function, as well as a blueprint for sensorimotor processing more broadly

We are studying how environmental factors in a post-training setting can either enhance or perturb motor skill consolidation in VOR adaptation. These behavioral tests will help elucidate the role of sensory interference in consolidation, as well as assaying generalization and directional adaptation asymmetry.

Is our understanding of typical cell type activity in the VOR circuit sufficient for inducing artificial learning? Are the activation patterns we observe and formalize into hypotheses necessary for normal learning? By utilizing the spatio-temporal specificity of optogenetic activation and inhibition, we can start to answer these questions directly.