Overview
Temporal Integration in Neural Systems
A function of many neural systems is to accumulate information over time and remember the summed value as a pattern of neural activity. This process can often be described mathematically as temporal integration. Integration appears to play a key role in many sensori-motor transformations, short-term memory behaviors, and decision making problems. The aims of this laboratory are to 1) determine the molecular, cellular, and circuit properties that enable integration, and 2) determine how these properties are modified to improve integration. The neural system studied by the lab is the integrator for control of eye position. Neurons essential for function, located either in the brainstem or cerebellum, are examined in vivo during normal behavior. The experimental preparation used is the developing zebrafish, allowing a combination of optical, genetic, and electrophysiological tools. Some examples of methods brought to bear are:
- Intracellular electrophysiological recording to monitor variation of synaptic activity with change in eye position.
- Cell-attached recording to measure coupling between cells or load molecular probes.
- Two-photon fluorescence microscopy to monitor calcium dynamics in single cells and their dendrites during behavior.
- Expression of fluorescent proteins to target particular cells for study.
- Pharmacological manipulations to modify intrinsic conductances or functional connectivity and test predicted changes in dynamics.
Highlights
- 1
- 2Brain : a journal of neurology · 2022
- 3
Publications
Funding
Active
3 grants- PIR01EY027036-09Circuit Mechanisms Underlying Persistent Activity in a Neural IntegratorNational Eye Institute · 2016–2027· 2 renewals
- PINC-GB-CULM-00002734-02Global firing and synaptic-weight dynamics underlying consolidation of neural integrator plasticitySimons Foundation · 2023–2027
- PISFI-AN-SURFiN-000145522025-2026 Shenoy Undergraduate Research Fellowship in NeuroscienceSimons Foundation · 2025–2026
Completed grants (5)
- PIR01NS104926-05Circuit Mechanisms Underlying Learned Changes in Persistent Neural ActivityNational Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke · 2018–2024
- PI542945Plasticity of Global Brain Dynamics: Tunable Neural IntegrationSimons Foundation · 2017–2023
- KPK99EY027017-01A1Understanding the Role of a Novel Cell Type in Triggering Voluntary SaccadesNational Eye Institute · 2017–2020Career
- Sub-PIUCDAVIS #201403670-01(324260)Mechanisms of Context-Dependent Neural Integration and Short-Term MemorySimons Foundation · 2014–2018 · via University of California, Davis
- PIR01EY021581-05The Computational Importance of Cerebeller ProcessingNational Eye Institute · 2012–2018
Honors & distinctions
- Searle Scholars Program · Searle Scholars Program · 2008
News mentions
- New Model of Neuronal Circuit Provides Insight on Eye MovementNovember 22, 2024
Working with week-old zebrafish larva, researchers at Weill Cornell Medicine and colleagues decoded how the connections formed by a network of neurons in the brainstem guide the fishes’ gaze.
- Whole-Brain Preclinical Study Illuminates How Epileptic Seizures OriginateApril 20, 2022
New evidence from a zebrafish model of epilepsy may help resolve a debate into how seizures originate, according to Weill Cornell Medicine and NewYork-Presbyterian investigators.
- Study Provides New Insight into How the Brain Decides to ActJuly 23, 2021
Researchers at Weill Cornell Medicine have identified a population of neurons that drive animal brains to initiate actions without prompting from an external stimulus such as food or prey.
Mentoring
- NGNicole GallienPhysiology, Biophysics & Systems Biology (PhD)