Faculty
are listed by Department within their Research Areas,
with descriptions of their active projects.
CENTER FOR MEMORY AND BRAIN
HOWARD EICHENBAUM
University Professor and Director of Center for Neuroscience and the Center for Memory and Brain; PhD, University of Michigan.
Research Interests: My research involves explorations of the neural circuitry that mediates
our capacities for cognition and memory. In particular, work in
my lab focuses on the contributions of a system of brain structures
including the hippocampus and cerebral cortex. Our approach to understanding
this system entails a combination of neuropsychological testing
to analyze how memory breaks down after selective damage to components
of this system and electrophysiological recording to characterize
how experiences are encoded by the activity patterns of neurons
in these brain structures.
MICHAEL HASSELMO
Professor of Psychology; DPhil, Oxford University
Research Interests: Research in the Hasselmo laboratory focuses on physiological and
computational analysis of the mechanisms of memory function in mammalian
cortical circuits, including the role of activation in muscarinic
acetylcholine receptors and GABAB receptors, and the role of oscillatory
dynamics in the olfactory cortex and hippocampus. Students in the
laboratory have the opportunity to learn a wide range of neuroscience
research techniques, including electrophysiological recording from
brain slice preparations of the hippocampus and piriform cortex,
recordings of evoked potentials and unit activity in anesthetized
and chronic preparations, detailed compartmental biophysical simulations
of cortical circuits, and behavioral studies of cholinergic modulation
in olfactory behavior. Articles from this laboratory have been co-authored
by numerous trainees, many of whom have performed both computational
modeling work and physiological research while working in the laboratory.
CHANTAL E. STERN
Professor of Psychology; DPhil, Oxford University
Research Interests: Research in the Cognitive Neuroimaging Laboratory at Boston University
is focused on using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI)
to study memory and cognition. The long-term objective of the laboratory
is to elucidate the neural substrates underlying memory processing
in the normal human brain, and to extend these finding to study
changes in memory functioning in normal aging, Alzheimer's disease,
and AIDS-related dementia. An additional goal is to integrate the
fMRI studies of human memory processing with knowledge from animal
models and computational modeling (Eichenbaum and Hasselmo laboratories).
Recent work includes fMRI studies of prefrontal and medial temporal
lobe interactions in picture and word encoding, examining the role
of prefrontal and medial temporal lobe contributions to working
memory for spatial, non-spatial, and complex visual stimuli, and
studies combining cognitive, physiological and morphometric methods
to examine changes associated with aging. Imaging is carried out
at the Massachusetts General Hospital-NMR Center. Students and postdoctoral
fellows are provided with training in cognitive neuroscience, neuroanatomy,
block design and event-related fMRI, cortical inflation and flattening
techniques, and cortical parcellation techniques. In 1999, installation
of MEG facilities at the MGH-NMR Center further enhanced available
research opportunities.
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DEPARTMENT OF BIOLOGY
TIM GARDNER,Assistant Professor of Biology; Ph.D.- Rockefeller University, NY.
Research Interests: The Gardner lab studies the assembly and function of neural circuits, focusing on the well-defined pathways for vocal learning in songbirds. A first priority is the quantitative description of vocal behavior. The lab also explores physiological recordings and circuit perturbations in singing birds, in-vivo imaging, and theoretical models for self-assembly of neural systems.
DEPARTMENT OF BIOMEDICAL
ENGINEERING
HERBERT F. VOIGT
Professor, Biomedical Engineering; Associate Research Professor,
Otolaryngology, School of Medicine; PhD, Johns Hopkins University
Research Interests: Dr. Voigt is currently engaged in experimental and theoretical studies
of the neuronal circuitry in the cochlear nucleus. He uses single-
and multi-unit recording and analysis techniques to study the responses
of neurons and neural nets to acoustic stimulation. Other interests
include brainstem auditory evoked responses and neural modeling
of the cochlear nucleus.
KAMAL SEN
Assistant Professor, Biomedical Engineering; PhD, Brandeis University
Research Interests: Our laboratory studies the neural coding of complex vocal communication
sounds in songbirds, a model system that shows striking parallels
to humans. We use electrophysiological techniques to record neural
responses. Theoretical methods from areas such as statistical signal
processing, systems theory, probability theory, and pattern recognition
are applied to characterize how neurons in the brain encode natural
sounds. We also use computational modeling to understand the processing
of natural sounds, both at the single neuron and the network level.
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DEPARTMENT OF COGNITIVE
AND NEURAL SYSTEMS
DANIEL H. BULLOCK
Associate Professor of Cognitive and Neural Systems and
Psychology; PhD, Stanford University
Research Interests:Integrated neural network models of sensory-motor learning, planning
and control. These neural network models encompass circuits in cortex,
basal ganglia, cerebellum, and the spinal cord. Our studies focus
on step-by-step reconstruction of known brain and CNS circuits within
the context of a quantitative functional theory of adaptive behavior
and cognition. Concepts and hypotheses are rigorously assessed by
comprehensive computer simulations of neural circuits that are specified
as systems of ordinary differential equations.
GAIL A. CARPENTER
Professor of Cognitive and Neural Systems and Mathematics;
PhD, University of Wisconsin
Research Interests: Development of neural network models for self-organizing category
learning and pattern recognition; neural mechanisms of synaptic
transmission and adaptation; and systems that incorporate these
models into neural networks architectures for incremental supervised
learning and prediction. Also: Neural models of vision, nerve impulse
generation (Hodgkin-Huxley equations), transmitter dynamics, and
biological rhythms.
STEPHEN GROSSBERG
Wang Professor of Cognitive and Neural Systems,
Professor of Mathematics, Psychology, and Biomedical Engineering;
Director, Center for Adaptive Systems; Chairman, Department of
Cognitive and Neural Systems; PhD, Rockefeller University
Research Interests: Development of neural models of learning, recognition, memory, vision,
audition, speech, cognition, reinforcement, attention, adaptive
sensory-motor control, and biological rhythms. Systematic analysis
and prediction of behavioral and brain data in both normal and clinical
patients. Applications to outstanding technological problems.
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DEPARTMENT OF MATHEMATICS
NANCY KOPELL
Professor; PhD, University of California, Berkeley
Research Interests: I'm interested in the origin and functional uses of dynamics
in the nervous system, especially dynamics involving rhythms. My
main current focus is rhythms in the hippocampus, thalamus, and
neocortex, especially rhythms associated with memory, learning,
attention, and awareness. The research aims to understand first
how the intrinsic and synaptic membrane properties of classes of
neurons lead networks of such neurons to exhibit rhythmic behavior,
and how modulations lead to different dy namic behavior (e.g., different
rhythms). This knowledge is the basis for investigation of how subnetworks
of the nervous system affect the dynamics of other subnetworks,
how they coordinate their firing (e.g., create dispersed cell assemblies),
and why different rhythms appear in different behavioral contexts.
Other interests include the dynamics of central pattern generators.
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DEPARTMENT OF PSYCHOLOGY
HOWARD EICHENBAUM
University Professor and Director of Center for Neuroscience and the Center for Memory and Brain; PhD, University of Michigan.
Research Interests: My research involves explorations of the neural circuitry that mediates
our capacities for cognition and memory. In particular, work in
my lab focuses on the contributions of a system of brain structures
including the hippocampus and cerebral cortex. Our approach to understanding
this system entails a combination of neuropsychological testing
to analyze how memory breaks down after selective damage to components
of this system and electrophysiological recording to characterize
how experiences are encoded by the activity patterns of neurons
in these brain structures.
MICHAEL HASSELMO
Professor of Psychology; DPhil, Oxford University
Research Interests: Research in the Hasselmo laboratory focuses on physiological and
computational analysis of the mechanisms of memory function in mammalian
cortical circuits, including the role of activation in muscarinic
acetylcholine receptors and GABAB receptors, and the role of oscillatory
dynamics in the olfactory cortex and hippocampus. Students in the
laboratory have the opportunity to learn a wide range of neuroscience
research techniques, including electrophysiological recording from
brain slice preparations of the hippocampus and piriform cortex,
recordings of evoked potentials and unit activity in anesthetized
and chronic preparations, detailed compartmental biophysical simulations
of cortical circuits, and behavioral studies of cholinergic modulation
in olfactory behavior. Articles from this laboratory have been co-authored
by numerous trainees, many of whom have performed both computational
modeling work and physiological research while working in the laboratory.
JACQUELINE A. LIEDERMAN
Associate Professor; PhD, University of Rochester
Research Interests: Mechanisms underlying interhemispheric collaboration during information
processing; endocrinological and immunological mechanisms underlying
male prevalence for neurodevelopmental disorders and lefthandedness;
the effects of environmental estrogens on the developing brain.
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