Darshan Lab: Theoretical & Computational Neuroscience

Recent technological advances have produced a wealth of data across a wide range of temporal and spatial scales, shedding light on the neural circuits that underlie complex brain functions. Thanks to these new technologies, we find ourselves in an exciting era of theoretical and computational neuroscience: Theories can be rigorously tested, data can be explained quantitively using computational tools, and predictions, based on theoretical principles, can be made.

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Nonetheless, we now face the challenge of transcending traditional theoretical neuroscience, which has often focused on models of simplified architectures generating homogeneous neural activity, and develop novel models and theories capable of accounting for the complex architectures and and intricate neural activities unveiled by modern experimental neuroscience.

 

The focus of the research in the lab is in uncovering the organizational principles that govern neuron connectivity (structure) and their impact on neural activity (dynamics), as well as investigating how learning shapes the brain's structure and dynamics to adapt and generate complex behaviors. By combining theoretical insights, data-driven modeling and close collaboration with experimentalists, we aim to develop new theories and models of brain circuits, with the goal of achieving a mechanistic understanding of circuits underlying cognitive brain functions.