Our aim is to understand how information is processed and computed by neuronal circuits, and relate this to the control of behaviour. We primarily study neuronal circuit operations in the neocortex and retina using state-of-the-art multi-site electrophysiological and optical recording techniques. We have discovered that active dendritic integration in the output neurons of the retina and neocortex underlies behaviourally engaged circuit-level computations. Our ongoing work at the single cell level determines how regenerative activity is generated in and spreads throughout the complex dendritic tree of neurons to control action potential output and, at the network level, the neuromodulatory control of neuronal circuit operations.

We use advanced electrophysiological and optical techniques to mechanistically dissect physiologically engaged computations in the retinal and neocortical micro-circuitry. Pioneering work has revealed that neuronal circuit computations occur in the fine tree-like dendritic arbours of central neurons, a finding that demonstrates that the fine-scale interplay between network connectivity and sub-cellular information processing lies at the heart of brain computations.

Ongoing work in the laboratory is aimed at discovering the circuit elements that drive and control physiologically engaged dendritic information processing. For example, the group’s recent work has demonstrated that active dendritic integration in the output neurons of the neocortex is strongly modulated by the cholinergic system, providing a plausible candidate mechanism for attentional processing. Furthermore, in the retina they are dissecting the functional impact of the co-release of neurotransmitters from interneurons on the control of network computations, in order to better understand visual processing.