As we navigate the world, moment-to-moment patterns of brain activity integrate sensory information and goals to guide each action. Our lab uses mice to study how these neural dynamics support planning and decision-making during navigation and how their disruption contributes to cognitive inflexibility in disease.
We use the hippocampal formation as a reference point for studying brain-wide activity. Building on its long history as a hub for memory and navigation, we treat the hippocampus as a site where internal models of space and goals can be read out in real time. By linking hippocampal activity to sensory, motor, and neuromodulatory signals, we examine how distributed brain networks coordinate to guide behavior and cognition.
A mouse adjusts its path mid-run. How does the brain generate and update these plans?
Our research focuses on three broad questions:
How are goal-related signals constructed and updated?
We study the hippocampus and connected brain regions to understand how neural circuits and neuromodulators generate goal-directed activity. We focus on how these signals adapt as goals, context, and internal state change.
Can we disentangle thought from ongoing behavior?
Brain activity can change rapidly even when behavior remains the same, reflecting planning or internal thought. We study coordinated patterns across the brain to identify these hidden cognitive states during behavior and sleep.
What leads to cognitive impairments in neuropsychiatric disorders?
Neuropsychiatric disorders often involve impairments in flexibility, perception, or memory. Using animal models, we study how disruptions to neural circuits and network dynamics give rise to these symptoms. We also test systems-level interventions aimed at restoring flexible, healthy brain activity.
Our lab combines large-scale electrophysiology, imaging, fiber photometry, circuit perturbations, and precise behavioral monitoring in novel tasks. We complement these approaches with computational and analytical tools to probe how internal models are built, maintained, and altered.