Our lab seeks to understand how patterns of neural activity generate animal behavior. In particular, we study the model organism C. elegans, a microscopic worm with a simple nervous system capable of rich behaviors. We have pioneered optogenetic microscopy techniques to optically manipulate and monitor populations of neurons in an animal as it moves. Read more »
My research combines techniques from neuroscience, physics, engineering and computer science to study the dynamics of neural circuits in awake moving organisms. We are part of the Department of Physics and the Princeton Neuroscience Institute.
The Leifer Lab at Princeton University.
To study neurocircuits, we build tools that monitor and manipulate neural activity in a worm with light.
Computer vision software identifies targets on the moving worm.
Laser light is precisely targeted to neurons in the worm.
Optogenetic proteins inhibit the worm's ventral nerve cord in response to green light.
Changes to the worm's behavior are precisely quantified.
These tools provide functional information about how neurons work together in a circuit.
The worm's neural activity is measured simultaneously with behavior.
An interneuron's activity (AVB) is plotted with behavior.
