Towards Whole-brain Dynamic Maps of Neuronal Circuits

Event Details

Type

Friday Lecture Series

Speaker(s)

Alipasha Vaziri, Ph.D., associate professor and head, Laboratory of Neurotechnology and Biophysics, associate director, Kavli Neural Systems Institute, The Rockefeller University

Speaker bio(s)

Understanding how sensory information is represented, processed and leads to generation of complex behavior from the activity of neurons is the major goal of systems neuroscience. Many brain functions are emergent functional states of highly distributed functional networks that include the dynamic interaction of local circuits with long-range neuronal connections. However, the ability to detect and manipulate such large-scale functional circuits has been hampered by the lack of appropriate tools and methods that allow parallel and spatiotemporally specific manipulation of neuronal population activity while capturing the dynamic activity of the entire network at high spatial and temporal resolutions. Dr. Vaziri will present the development of different optical neurotechnologies in his laboratory that have been aimed at addressing this technological gap over the last decade. Through these, the lab has consistently extended the boundaries of speed, resolution and volume size up to the level of whole brains at which neuronal circuits can be functionally recorded across different model systems.

Dr. Vaziri earned his Ph.D. from the University of Vienna in quantum optics, then conducted his postdoctoral work at the U.S. National Institutes of Standards and Technology. While a research specialist at HHMI’s Janelia Research Campus, he developed an interest in neuroscience and focused on the development of new high resolution microscopy, and later on optogenetic techniques. He then joined the University of Vienna in Austria, where he became a group leader at the Research Institute for Molecular Pathology and associate professor and director of the inter-departmental research platform for Quantum Phenomena and Nanoscale Biological Systems. In 2015 he joined The Rockefeller University as associate professor, and in 2016 he also became associate director of Rockefeller’s Kavli Neural Systems Institute. Dr. Vaziri is the recipient of the Human Frontier Science Program Young Investigators’ Award.

Open to

Public

Reception

Refreshments, 3:15 p.m. - 3:45 p.m., Abby Lounge

Contact

Justin Sloboda

Phone

(212) 327-7785

Sponsor

Justin Sloboda
(212) 327-7785
jsloboda@rockefeller.edu

Readings

https://librarynews.rockefeller.edu/index.php/2020/01/08/recommended-readings-alipasha-vaziri-ph-d-friday-january-31-2020/