To behave appropriately, animals must generate internal representations of the external world, and update these internal representations based on current, local conditions.\u00a0 The updated representation is coupled to motor output centers and behavior is modified to fit local conditions.\u00a0 Since the pioneering work of neuroethologists such as Konrad Lorenz and Karl von Frisch, we have come to appreciate that identifiable circuits mediate behavioral adaptation to local environmental conditions.<\/p>\n
Current projects in the lab are designed to answer the following questions, with a focus on cortical inhibition:
\nWhat aspects of sensory-motor circuits are subject to modification during learning?
\nHow are the very circuits that are used during sensory-motor learning constructed in the first place?
\nComputationally, how does cell-type diversity contribute to sensory encoding and learning?<\/p>\n
We use a range of techniques, including electrophysiological recordings of targeted cell types in-vivo<\/em> and in-vitro<\/em>, 2-photon microscopy, behavioral methods, and computational analyses.<\/p>\nTwo-photon calcium imaging is used to assay the activity of hundreds of neurons simultaneously:<\/h2>\n