4 YEAR PhD IN NEUROSCIENCE
UCL Institute of Ophthalmology
Sensory representation by neuronal populations
Our main interest is the early visual system and how it does what it does. We seek to understand how it is wired up and to find simple mathematical expressions to describe its output. A goal for our research is to understand how neurons in visual cortex integrate sensory inputs from the eyes and lateral inputs from the cortex itself. We wish to explain how these two kinds of inputs interact in determining neuronal responses, and how their relative importance may vary due to adaptive mechanisms. Through multi-electrode recordings and optical imaging, we measure the dynamics of population activity in the brain, both ongoing and in response to visual stimulation. We pair these experimental techniques with computational techniques, and we seek to predict the responses of individual neurons based on the activity of the population and on the sensory stimuli.
1) Adaptive computations in the early visual system of the rodent
2) Nine visual areas in the rodent neocortex: what is their role?
3) Navigation in a virtual environment: role of hippocampus and visual cortex
L Busse, AR Wade, and M Carandini, "Representation of concurrent stimuli by population activity in visual cortex", Neuron, in press (2009).
A Benucci, DL Ringach, and M Carandini, "Coding of stimulus sequences by population responses in visual cortex". Nature Neurosci, 12:1317-1324 (2009).
V Mante, V Bonin, and M Carandini, "Functional mechanisms shaping lateral geniculate responses to artificial and natural stimuli". Neuron, 58:625-638 (2008).