The Diba Lab is interested in how the brain represents, coordinates, stores and transfers information. Neuronal networks generate an assortment of neuronal oscillations that vary depending on the behavior and state of an animal, from active exploration to resting and different stages of sleep and anesthesia. Accordingly, in our recordings of large populations of spiking neurons in rodents, we observe state-dependent temporal relationships at multiple timescales. What role do these unique spike patterns play and what do they tell us about the function and limitations of each brain state? To answer these and related questions, we combine behavioral studies of freely moving, learning and exploring rats, multi-channel recordings of the simultaneous electrical (spiking) activity from hundreds of neurons during behavior and sleep, statistical and machine learning tools to uncover deep structure within high-dimensional spike trains and chemo- and opto-genetics to manipulate protein signaling and action potentials in specific neural populations in precise time windows.

Research Areas: Biomedical Computation and Modeling, Neural Engineering