Research Interests & Current Projects

The biophysics of cognition

In the brain, unlike conventional computers, cognitive processes like memory and perception are tightly interlinked with their physical substrate. Understanding the biophysical mechanisms behind the repertoire of dynamical phenomena the nervous system can generate is therefore an essential part for understanding brain function in general. We gain insight into the material basis of cognition by developing biophysically realistic computer models that can account for neurophysiological observations and relate them to cognitive function, by probing neural networks 'in a dish', and analyzing neurophysiological data with the help of methods from nonlinear dynamics and statistics. Current research projects focus primarily on the biophysical mechanisms and neural dynamics underlying the organization of behavior in time, which is based on cognitive ingredients like the ability to keep information 'online' about the recent history of events and their temporal structure (working & short-term memory), and the ability to use that information to predict forthcoming events.