Anirvan Nandy, PhD

Perception and cognition depend crucially on the ability of our sensory cortical systems to select behaviorally relevant stimuli for detailed inspection while ignoring distractors. Neurons in the neocortex are embedded in a layered (or laminar) structure, and there are stereotypical patterns of anatomical connectivity in this layered cortical architecture and these connectivity motifs are shared across sensory modalities, leading to the idea of a canonical information processing circuit. By studying the functional dynamics of these intricate layered circuits while animals are engaged in challenging visuo-spatial tasks and naturalistic social behaviors, we hope to discover fundamental principles of information flow through the cortex, and how this information flow is modulated by brain and behavioral state. These investigations will significantly advance our understanding of the mechanisms of cognition and ultimately help us understand disease conditions in which information flow is disrupted.

computational modeling ;  electrophysiology ;  naturalistic experiments ;  optogenetics ;  psychophysics ;  single-unit recordings  

attention ;  circuits ;  cognition ;  cortex ;  systems neuroscience ;  vision  

Anirvan Nandy received his Bachelor's degree in 1994 from the Indian Institute of Technology in Electrical Engineering and his Doctoral degree in 2010 from the University of Southern California in Psychology (Brain & Cognitive Sciences). He did his post-doctoral research at the Salk Institute and started his lab at Yale in 2017. He is an avid (amateur) photographer and enjoys hiking.