Research
Our lab is driven by the theory of embodied cognition, which maintains that the brain and body are inseparable components of the same system - and should, therefore, be studied together. Our work formulates testable hypotheses about the role of the body and its movements in shaping sensory perception.


The brain & body
An inseparable system that evolves, develops, and functions together
Brain activity alone does not generate our perceptions, but brain activity combined with bodily actions does. Theories of embodied cognition suggest that perceptions are created through an interaction of the body with the brain. This implies that studying the brain in isolation, even with the best resolution and technology, will never be enough. To understand perception and cognition fully, we must study the brain and body together.

Vision & action
How visuomotor circuits optimize to species-specific bodies and movements
We aim to understand 1) how neural circuits transform visuomotor signals into information used to see and to act and 2) how information encoded in visual circuits is shaped by, and shapes, an animal’s particular movements. This understanding is pivotal to discovering how visuomotor circuits become optimized to the unique demands of individual animals, including humans.

Distinct species & distinct systems
Two contrasting animal models to uncover differences in brain/body systems
We study two mammals that have similar body and brain sizes but very different body movements and visual systems: rats and tree shrews. Using this comparative approach, we can figure out how each species’ needs and bodies are intertwined with the architecture of their sensorimotor systems. Our work with tree shrews and rats takes advantage of the massive diversity of brains and bodies that exist in the natural world. Through this two-species lens, we can begin to grasp the fundamental logic of embodied systems.
Approach
How do we contextualize brain data within a moving body?
We use state-of-the-art electrophysiology and imaging techniques combined with behavioral data and mathematical modeling to place brain activity in the context of changing sensorimotor states during natural movement.
We collect data via in vivo two-photon imaging, electrophysiology, high-throughput behavioral monitoring, and sensors that record real-time external and internal inputs to the brain during natural behaviors. We use machine learning-guided behavioral analysis, computer programming, and closed-loop experimental paradigms for all aspects of our research.
Projects
We aim to understand how sensory processing in the brain, and vision in particular, integrates with the rest of the body. Our core goal is to identify principles of visual processing by studying the effects of the body’s movements on visual inputs. Engaging with these fundamental but challenging concepts will allow us to understand the brain in the context of the body it lives in, and to interrogate the many mysterious differences across the sensory systems of different species.
How do natural sensorimotor inputs differ between species with different bodies and body movements?
Evolutionary processes produce brains with circuitry optimized to natural sensory input statistics. For instance, we know that color recognition capabilities reflect the spectrum of colors in each animal’s natural habitat. This means we can find the signature of each animal’s ecological habitat in its brain because the habitat profoundly shapes the sensory inputs that the animal receives. While this environmental influence is well investigated, body movements also play a significant role in shaping sensory inputs. The next logical experiment is to look for signatures of body movements in the brain. But doing this requires getting the data first: precise measurement of natural movements, and their sensory consequence.
Our lab fills this important gap by quantifying natural movements, and their sensory consequence, in multiple species using computational modeling, programming, and neuroAI.
How does the visual system extract and use information created by body movements?
We know that movements produce sensory information useful for executing behavior. For instance, the visual flow created during walking contains information about the heading and the relative distance of nearby objects to the animal in motion. What we don't know is how the brain extracts and uses this information to guide behavior. This is because, until now, our measurements of visual circuits have largely been conducted in static brains. Using motion capture for behavioral quantification, coupled with wireless methods in electrophysiology and two-photon imaging, our lab records brain activity during natural body movements. This produces the data needed to understand how the brain incorporates body-generated information to guide behavior. Interpreting the data is the core of this project.
How does the visual system adapt to changes in bodily morphology or movement patterns?
Sensory and motor systems function together in the context of an ever-growing and changing body. This suggests that major changes in bodily morphology or movement repertoire, like those that occur during development and aging, result in different demands on the visual system. To understand this process, we simulate changes in body morphology and then ask how those changes are reflected in visual circuits and behaviors.