The cerebral cortex occupies more than 75% of our brains and it plays central roles in virtually all forms of flexible and adaptive behavior. Yet we still know little about how cortical circuits are organized and how they process information. Our goal is to identify core principles underlying information processing in cortical circuits and related structures.
Analysis of cortical circuits needs to proceed at two distinct conceptual levels. One level deals with the computations performed by the circuit. What does the circuit do? Answers to this question require analysis of neural representations at specific nodes of the circuit, during relevant behavior. The second level is about the biophysical implementation of the computation. What mechanisms shape behavior-related spike trains at specific circuit nodes? Answers to this question demand a detailed understanding of cellular and synaptic properties of the circuit components. Our lab straddles these levels of analysis.