What any sensory neuron knows about the world is one of the cardinal questions in
Neuroscience. Information from the sensory periphery travels across synaptically coupled …

Recent studies in mice have shown that orofacial behaviors drive a large fraction of neural
activity across the brain. To understand the nature and function of these signals, we need …

Perceptual decisions involve distributed cortical activity. Does information flow sequentially
from one cortical area to another, or do networks of interconnected areas contribute at the …

Cortical-feedback projections to primary sensory areas terminate most heavily in layer 1 (L1)
of the neocortex,, where they make synapses with tuft dendrites of pyramidal neurons. L1 …

Linking activity in specific cell types with perception, cognition, and action, requires
quantitative behavioral experiments in genetic model systems such as the mouse. In head …

A fundamental question in the investigation of any sensory system is what physical signals
drive its sensory neurons during natural behavior. Surprisingly, in the whisker system, it is …

Active sensation requires the convergence of external stimuli with representations of body
movements. We used mouse behavior, electrophysiology and optogenetics to dissect the …

Breakthroughs in understanding the neural basis of natural behavior require neural
recording and intervention to be paired with high-fidelity multimodal behavioral monitoring …

During many natural behaviors the relevant sensory stimuli and motor outputs are difficult to
quantify. Furthermore, the high dimensionality of the space of possible stimuli and …

Animals actively regulate the position and movement of their sensory systems to boost the
quality and quantity of the sensory information they obtain. The rat vibrissal system is …