Adesnik Lab

The goal of our laboratory is to reveal the neural basis of perception. More specifically, we want to understand exactly how cortical microcircuits process sensory information to drive behavior. While decades of research have carefully outlined how individual neurons extract specific features from the sensory environment, the cellular and synaptic mechanisms that permit ensembles of cortical neurons to actually process sensory information and generate perceptions are largely unknown.

1ST GOAL

To understand the role of horizontal and vertical connections across each of the six major cortical layers in computing the size, shape, and texture of sensory objects.

2ND GOAL

To develop new high-speed and spatially precise optical approaches to manipulate neural activity at the level of single neurons in the intact brains of awake, behaving animals to decipher the neural code that underlies sensory perception.

3RD GOAL

To understand how global activity across multiple sensory, motor and associational areas, synthesizes specific perceptions and selects the appropriate behavioral response to a given set of environmental conditions.

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Positions