I study how populations of neurons collectively encode information present in their inputs and how they perform computations on these signals. The brain performs several classes of computation including signal comparison, prediction, error correction, and learning. To investigate these phenomena, I work with experimentalists on a variety of systems: predictive coding in the retina and visual cortex of the rodent, motion coding in area MT, and temporal coding in the zebra finch song system. From these studies, several general principles have emerged, which guide my current research: the hypothesis that neurons are optimized to predict their future inputs, that information in neural populations is represented combinatorially, and that coding in sensori-motor systems is highly dynamic and behaviorally dependent. By working closely with experimentalists, we constrain and test these theories of neural population coding with detailed measurements.
Princeton University
Princeton, NJ
Postdoctoral - Neuroscience
2012
University of California San Francisco
San Francisco, CA
Postdoctoral - Neuroscience
2005
University of Oxford
England, UK
DPhil - Theoretical Physics
2001
Michigan State University
East Lansing, MI
BS - Chemical Physics
1997
Discovering flexible codes for prediction across timescales in the retina.
Discovering flexible codes for prediction across timescales in the retina. Vision Res. 2026 Oct; 247:108872.
PMID: 42462449
Interaction forces reflect the perception of texture during active exploration.
Interaction forces reflect the perception of texture during active exploration. bioRxiv. 2026 Jun 22.
PMID: 42395512
Preserving predictive information under biologically plausible compression.
Preserving predictive information under biologically plausible compression. PNAS Nexus. 2026 Jul; 5(7):pgag224.
PMID: 42403907
The free-running property of circadian clocks is needed to tolerate changing photoperiods.
The free-running property of circadian clocks is needed to tolerate changing photoperiods. Curr Biol. 2026 Mar 23; 36(6):1548-1555.e5.
PMID: 41747720
Perceptual resolution of ambiguity: A divisive normalization account for both interocular color grouping and difference enhancement.
Perceptual resolution of ambiguity: A divisive normalization account for both interocular color grouping and difference enhancement. J Vis. 2026 Jan 05; 26(1):8.
PMID: 41528108
A dynamic scale-mixture model of motion in natural scenes.
A dynamic scale-mixture model of motion in natural scenes. Elife. 2025 Dec 09; 14.
PMID: 41363210
Sex-limited diversification of the eye in Heliconius cydno butterflies.
Sex-limited diversification of the eye in Heliconius cydno butterflies. J Comp Physiol A Neuroethol Sens Neural Behav Physiol. 2026 Mar; 212(2):259-269.
PMID: 41102534
Genetic, developmental, and neural changes underlying the evolution of butterfly mate preference.
Genetic, developmental, and neural changes underlying the evolution of butterfly mate preference. PLoS Biol. 2025 Mar; 23(3):e3002989.
PMID: 40067994
Stimulus-invariant aspects of the retinal code drive discriminability of natural scenes.
Stimulus-invariant aspects of the retinal code drive discriminability of natural scenes. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2024 12 24; 121(52):e2313676121.
PMID: 39700141
Stimulus invariant aspects of the retinal code drive discriminability of natural scenes.
Stimulus invariant aspects of the retinal code drive discriminability of natural scenes. bioRxiv. 2024 Jul 18.
PMID: 37609259