Projects & Publications
Come see what our lab members are accomplishing!
Research Themes
Signal Processing
Current Projects
How do sensory signals get transformed into accurate motor commands? Due to the extensive interconnectivity of brain regions, this question has been difficult to answer precisely, even for simple input-output relationships. 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. Utilizing contemporary high-density silicon probes, we will record simultaneously from multiple cell types in the VOR circuit, seeking to define the extent of variability in responsiveness to sensory inputs across populations and how they are differentially weighted over the course of learning.
Scholarly Work
Consolidation
Current Projects
Neuronal circuit plasticity often involves multiple cell types with different rates of adaptation. In systems consolidation, initial changes in a site of rapid adaptation induce long-term changes in a separate site of slower adaptation. What factors determine the efficacy of this consolidation process? 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. In this way a simple motor skill can serve as a model for general principles of systems consolidation.
Scholarly Work
Circuit Activation
Current Projects
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. We will utilize specific genetic drivers to activate or block function in individual VOR cell types, thereby clarifying the distinction between causal and correlative determinants of adaptive functioning.
