Research Vision
How does the brain generate an internal model according to fluctuating behavior goals?
Imagine a mouse foraging for food when it sees a cricket. It darts forward but the cricket jumps away, out of sight. The mouse can still hear chirps from the bushes and continues the chase using those sounds.
What happens across brain regions during this simple scenario? How do fluctuating goals and changing sensory relevance impact brain-wide computations? My research vision is to understand how brain-wide circuits build internal representations that support flexible goal-directed navigation.
A clear readout of internal representations exists in the activity of a brain region called the hippocampus. The hippocampus acts like an internal tape recorder, creating memories of ongoing experiences. From a circuit perspective, the hippocampus receives information from the cortex through a series of computations that transform sensory information into behaviorally relevant internal variables (see my current project for an example of such computations).
I propose to use hippocampal activity as an anchor and work my way back to the cortex to understand how circuit interactions dynamically build representations such as those in the hippocampus. I will apply my combined expertise in rodent behavior, cortical and hippocampal extracellular electrophysiology, circuit perturbations, and computational tools.
APPROACH
My research vision is not restricted to understanding single-region function, such as that of the hippocampus. Instead, I seek to study how interactions between regions are flexibly modulated on a moment-by-moment basis.
First, I will perform simultaneous extracellular recordings across regions to monitor stages of transformations of external sensory information across cortical and hippocampal circuits. I will focus on oscillatory dynamics and flexible routing of information according to ongoing behavior states.
Second, I am particularly excited about linking such global neural dynamics with behavior. I believe studying simple actions (rearing/head scans/ short pauses) in the context of complex tasks can provide glimpses into moments of planning or deliberation. My lab will prioritize the study of spontaneous behaviors to link overt cognitive behaviors with internal signals.
Third, I will apply my expertise in nuanced manipulations to probe the causality of such signals. At the circuit level, I will perform perturbation experiments to understand how the relative strength of inputs is balanced depending on fluctuating behavior goals.
First, I will perform simultaneous extracellular recordings across regions to monitor stages of transformations of external sensory information across cortical and hippocampal circuits. I will focus on oscillatory dynamics and flexible routing of information according to ongoing behavior states.
Second, I am particularly excited about linking such global neural dynamics with behavior. I believe studying simple actions (rearing/head scans/ short pauses) in the context of complex tasks can provide glimpses into moments of planning or deliberation. My lab will prioritize the study of spontaneous behaviors to link overt cognitive behaviors with internal signals.
Third, I will apply my expertise in nuanced manipulations to probe the causality of such signals. At the circuit level, I will perform perturbation experiments to understand how the relative strength of inputs is balanced depending on fluctuating behavior goals.