About
Our research focuses on the neural basis of olfactory perception and how context and experience influence how brains process odors. Experiments involve both psychophysics and electrophysiology and concentrate on the olfactory and limbic systems.
Behavioral studies examine the effects of odorant chemical structure, receptor biophysics, and prior experience on olfactory sensation and perception. We also examine how the cognitive structure of the tasks we use to ask rats questions about what they smell influences the behavioral strategies that they use during odor sampling and decision-making.
Electrophysiological studies focus on system dynamics and oscillatory coupling within and between brain regions and address changes in neural strategies (the ways in which brains solve problems) that depend on the tasks we use. Neural recordings are done at the level of the local field potential and single and multiple neurons, and other techniques include pharmacological manipulations and optogenetic activation and inactivation.
Source code for behavioral testing is in Publications.