We combine recordings in vivo with precise in vitro measurements to connect circuit activity with cellular and synaptic function.
Respond to cue… or error
Cellular readout
Behavior and Cell Biology
Behavioral training is paired with cellular and molecular approaches to identify how learning changes defined circuit components.
Multiplexed optogenetics
Optogenetic cue
Optogenetic Brain Control
Cell-type- and pathway-specific optogenetic tools deliver controlled sensory cues and test how defined neural activity guides learning.
Current questions
Ongoing research
How Does Synaptic Plasticity Support Learning?
We use synthetic sensory cues to identify the specific neurons and synapses that change during learning. Because the cue can be recreated in a brain slice, behavioral training and high-density recordings in vivo can be linked to whole-cell and molecular measurements in vitro. We focus particularly on learning-related changes in connections from sensory cortex to striatum.
How Do Distributed Brain Systems Coordinate Learning and Memory?
Learning and memory depend on coordinated activity across multiple brain systems. We manipulate neural activity in vivo to pause or allow learning while measuring behavior and recording from several systems at once. These experiments ask how distributed activity changes as learning proceeds and becomes memory.
Might the Basal Ganglia Contribute to, or Be Able to Reverse, Tinnitus?
Tinnitus may involve maladaptive changes in central auditory pathways after damage to the auditory periphery. We investigate whether learning-related plasticity in auditory–basal ganglia circuits contributes to those changes. Using a mouse model, we measure circuit plasticity and test whether targeted manipulation can reverse pathological changes.
Does Learning Shift How Sensations Recruit the Striatum?
The striatum contains two major output pathways whose relative activity is thought to promote or suppress future actions. We record from identified neuron types to test whether learning shifts sensory recruitment across these pathways. In parallel, fiber photometry measures dopamine release as sensory responses evolve during learning.
