Publications

Bioluminescent optogenetics (BL-OG) allows activation of photosensory proteins, such as opsins, by either fiberoptics or by administering a luciferin. BL-OG thus confers both optogenetic and chemogenetic access within the same genetically targeted neuron.

The Drosophila mushroom body exhibits dopamine dependent synaptic plasticity that underlies the acquisition of associative memories. Recordings of dopamine neurons in this system have identified signals related to external reinforcement such as reward and punishment.

We present a novel technique, emergent property inference that brings the modern probabilistic modeling toolkit to theoretical neuroscience. When theorizing circuit models, theoreticians predominantly focus on reproducing computational properties rather than a particular dataset.

Task-based and resting-state represent the two most common experimental paradigms of functional neuroimaging. While resting-state offers a flexible and scalable approach for characterizing brain function, task-based techniques provide superior localization.

Functional MRI (fMRI) is a powerful technique that has allowed us to characterize visual cortex responses to stimuli, yet such experiments are by nature constructed based on a priori hypotheses along with other limitations.

Optical coherence microscopy (OCM) uses interferometric detection to capture the complex optical field with high sensitivity, which enables computational wavefront retrieval using back-scattered light from the sample.

Control of adaptive walking requires the integration of sensory signals of muscle force and load. We have studied how mechanoreceptors (tibial campaniform sensilla) encode “naturalistic” stimuli derived from joint torques of stick insects walking on a horizontal substrate.

Humans and other animals can identify objects by active touch, requiring the coordination of exploratory motion and tactile sensation. Both the motor strategies and neural representations employed could depend on the subject’s goals.

We describe here the methods we used to create a detailed musculoskeletal model with 84 degrees of freedom and 134 muscles. Our model has three key-features: three-dimensionality, scalability, and modularity.