On the structure of serial memory effects in perception

Abstract: Our impression of the sensory world is modified by our preceding experience. In the laboratory, this phenomenon is apparent from serial effects: participants‘ responses in any one trial are found to depend on previous stimuli or responses, even when task instructions and feedback establish each trial as independent. These effects are typically modelled as simple […]

Sensory coding from a behavioral perspective

Abstract: Sensory stimuli evoke rich spatiotemporal neural patterns. A central question of my work is which features of those patterns drive behavior. Using the mammalian olfactory system, we pair multi-level neural recordings with targeted perturbations. Behavioral responses to parametrically defined optogenetic activation show that early responses carry far more behaviorally relevant information than later ones. […]

Cell-type specific voltage imaging of neural spiking, oscillations, waves, and memory dynamics

Abstract: Fluorescent genetically encoded voltage-indicators report the membrane voltages of targeted cell-types. Recent advances in the development of these indicators have enabled optical voltage-imaging experiments capturing the spiking dynamics of up to 3 neuron classes at once in the brains of behaving mammals. We recently used this capability to uncover a new form of interaction between an […]