Systems Neuroscience
 | Wael Asaad Assistant Professor of Neurosurgery My lab is interested in how the frontal cortex and basal ganglia work together to enable rapid learning and highly-contingent decision making. Our methods involve multi-electrode neuronal recordings as well as neurostimulation in human and nonhuman subjects, in both the operative and laboratory settings. We're interested in developing ways to foster or augment learning to improve recovery from neurologic illness or injury. Read More |
 | David Badre Assistant Professor How do we choose our actions given our goals, knowledge, and circumstances? Humans can avoid habitual tendencies and pick the right action for the right situation, an ability termed "cognitive control" or "executive function". Losing cognitive control, due to neurological or psychiatric condition, severely diminishes independence and quality of life. Our lab studies cognitive control of memory and action, using cognitive neuroscience methods that include fMRI and testing of patient populations. Read More |
 | Lucien Elie Bienenstock Associate Professor of Applied Mathematics and Neuroscience My research is in theoretical neuroscience, computational vision, and computational linguistics. I study the mechanisms used by brains to create and work with complex, detailed, hierarchical representations of the external world. With colleagues in neuroscience and applied math, I investigate the hypothesis that the fine temporal structure of cortical activity, e.g. the synchronous firing of neurons, plays an important role in these representations. Read More |
 | Rebecca Burwell Professor of Psychology My research program uses neuroanatomical, experimental lesion, optogenetic, and electrophysiological approaches to examine the contribution of brain regions adjacent to the hippocampus (including the perirhinal, postrhinal/parahippocampal, and entorhinal cortices) to memory and to other higher cognitive functions. Read More |
 | Barry Connors Professor and Chair I study the cellular physiology of the mammalian brain. Most of my work centers on the neocortex, which is responsible for thinking, remembering, processing sensory information, and controlling movement. The neocortex is a vast network of interconnected neurons. My research group studies the properties of these neurons, their synaptic connections, and the characteristics of cortical networks. We are also interested in the mechanisms of epileptic seizures. Read More |
 | John Donoghue Professor of Neuroscience Our laboratory investigates how the brain turns thought into voluntary behaviors and how that knowledge can be used to help persons with paralysis. We study how populations of neurons represent and transform information as a motor plan becomes movement. This approach has required the creation of a novel recording array to study neural ensembles. With the knowledge we have gained about movement representation, we have translated our findings to a clinical application in which humans with paralysis can use their Read More |
 | Michael Frank Associate Profressor Read More |
 | Roger Hanlon Senior Scientist, Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole, MA The visual mechanisms of camouflage are a key interest of ours. How are predator visual systems deceived by certain features of pattern, color, contrast, brightness and even 3-dimensional skin texture? We study cephalopods (octopus, cuttlefish, squid), which have evolved nature's most sophisticated system of rapid adaptive coloration. Cephalopod vision provides a unique model system to study perception of complex visual environments, and the subsequent integration of visual stimuli that immediately (ca. 700msec) produces the neuromuscular motor output that results in Read More |
 | Leigh Hochberg Associate Professor of Engineering Our Laboratory for Restorative Neurotechnology focuses on developing strategies to restore communication, mobility, and independence for people with paralysis or limb loss. In addition to endeavors related to the pilot clinical trial of the BrainGate2 Neural Interface System, we are interested in understanding human intracortical neurophysiology during the planning and production of voluntary movement, and understanding neuronal ensemble function in a variety of neurologic diseases or injuries. Read More |
 | Stephanie Jones Assistant Professor of Neuroscience (Research) Read More |
 | Julie Kauer Professor My laboratory focuses on understanding molecular mechanisms involved in synaptic plasticity and modulation of neuronal excitability using modern electrophysiological techniques in brain slices. Our work is related to understanding fundamental processes in memory, in drug addiction and in chronic pain. Read More |
 | Albert Lo Associate Professor of Neurology and Associate Professor of Epidemiology • Stroke Robotic Upper Extremity Rehabilitation, Phase II/III Clinical Trials • Multiple Sclerosis Robot-Assisted Neurorehabilitation for Gait * Brain computer interface for communication in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis * Cortical mechanism of freezing in Parkinson's, near infrared-spectroscopy • Robot interventions for Parkinson's Disease Freezing of Gait • Neuroprotection in Multiple Sclerosis and Animal models • Investigations in Multiple Sclerosis Clinical Epidemiology in Rhode Island • Mild Traumatic Brain Injury: Impact on Attention, and Motor Control Read More |
 | Arto Nurmikko Professor Professor Nurmikko carries out research in neuroenginering/neurotechnology, nanophotonics, experimental laser sciences, and active electronic nanomaterials. Topics of interest range from new approaches to brain interfaces combining neural signal detection and neural stimulation of cortical microcircuits, strong light-matter interaction on subwavelength spatial scales, to the development and application of new optoelectronic devices (such as ultraviolet semiconductor sources. Read More |
 | Michael Paradiso Sidney A. and Dorothea Doctors Fox Professor of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, Professor of Neuroscience Humans are highly visual animals and the processing of visual information appears to involve a significant fraction of the brain. Vision involves interactions between neurons spread widely across the brain and it dynamically adapts to the needs of ongoing behavior. The aims of Dr. Paradiso's research are to elucidate the encoding of visual information in cerebral cortex, the computations performed by interacting neurons, and the adaptive use of neural circuitry, with the goal of understanding the mechanisms underlying Read More |
 | Jerome Sanes Professor of Neuroscience I study brain mechanisms underlying motor control and learning. Several brain regions, including the frontal and parietal lobes, the basal ganglia, and the cerebellum, have involvement in voluntary movements, and these areas become engaged when humans learn and then consolidate new motor skills. Currently, we study these problems with magnetic resonance imaging technology that assesses focal changes in blood flow and by assessing movement patterns while humans perform various movement tasks. Read More |
 | David Sheinberg Professor of Neuroscience Research in my lab explores how we identify objects and events in the real world, where both the observer and the environment change over time. The brain must process a dynamic stream of sensory information and efficiently parse this information to reach conclusions about the presence or absence of noteworthy objects to which actions should be directed. By studying the activity of neural circuits involved in this process, we aim to better understand mechanisms underlying perception. Read More |
 | Andrea Megela Simmons Professor My laboratory studies how the nervous system develops, matures, and reorganizes in response to damage. We use frogs as a model system because these animals go through a lengthy larval stage during which their bodies and brains transform to accommodate the transition from an aquatic to an amphibious lifestyle. As adults, frogs can regenerate damaged hair cells and cranial nerves, making them excellent models to understand the molecular bases of how the brain might recover from injury. Read More |
 | James Simmons Professor of Biology I'm interested in understanding how the bat's sonar works and how the bat's brain makes sonar images. They make sounds, listen to echoes, and then see objects. To study echolocation, we go into the field and videotape bats using sonar for different purposes. These observations tell us in what situations bats use their sonar, and what sorts of sounds they use. If we know where the objects are in the videos, we can figure out what sounds get back to Read More |