https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9876-7837
Overview
What makes us intelligent? How do the hundred billion cells in our brain give rise to speech, music, and athletic performance, and how does this process break down in disease? Just as fixing a computer requires a mental model of how its parts work together, treating brain disorders will require understanding the fundamental principles by which the brain develops, learns, and maintains its function over time.
Our lab works to identify these fundamental principles. In close collaboration with experimentalists, we devise new methods for distilling scientific hypotheses from large and complex data sets, and we build AI-driven systems that adapt experiments to incoming data in real time. Our ultimate goal is to produce theories that allow both scientists and clinicians to reason about brain function, understand existing data, and devise new treatments.
Our lab works to identify these fundamental principles. In close collaboration with experimentalists, we devise new methods for distilling scientific hypotheses from large and complex data sets, and we build AI-driven systems that adapt experiments to incoming data in real time. Our ultimate goal is to produce theories that allow both scientists and clinicians to reason about brain function, understand existing data, and devise new treatments.
Current Duke Appointments & Affiliations
Associate Professor of Neurobiology
·
2025 - Present
Neurobiology,
Basic Science Departments
Assistant Research Professor in Neurobiology
·
2018 - Present
Neurobiology,
Basic Science Departments
Associate Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience
·
2025 - Present
Psychology & Neuroscience,
Trinity College of Arts & Sciences
Associate Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
·
2025 - Present
Pierre R. Lamond Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering,
Pratt School of Engineering
Member of the Center for Cognitive Neuroscience
·
2016 - Present
Center for Cognitive Neuroscience,
Duke Institute for Brain Sciences
Recent Scholarly Works
A synaptic locus of song learning.
Journal article Nature · July 2026 Learning by imitation is the foundation for verbal and musical expression, but its neural basis remains unclear. A juvenile male zebra finch imitates the multisyllabic song of an adult tutor in a process that depends on a song-specialized cortico-basal gan ... Full text Link to item CiteSelective Encoding of Priors for Flexible Categorization But Not Bayesian Inference in the Frontal Eye Field.
Journal article J Neurosci · June 24, 2026 Expectations or prior beliefs about the world modulate sensory processing at the behavioral and neural levels. Bayesian models predict that such priors compensate for input uncertainty to optimize sensory judgments. Although Bayesian behavior is prevalent ... Full text Link to item CiteSelective encoding of priors for flexible categorization but not Bayesian inference in the frontal eye field.
Preprint · April 20, 2026 Expectations or prior beliefs about the world have been shown to modulate sensory processing both at the behavioral and neural levels. Bayesian models predict that such priors compensate for input uncertainty to optimize sensory judgments. Although Bayesia ... Full text Link to item CiteRecent Grants
Neurobiology Training Program
Inst. Training Prgm or CMEMentor · Awarded by National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke · 2024 - 2029Duke University Psychiatry Physician-Scientist Residency Training Program
Inst. Training Prgm or CMEMentor · Awarded by National Institute of Mental Health · 2024 - 2029Neurocognitive mechanisms of control over cognitive stability and flexibility
ResearchCo Investigator · Awarded by National Institute of Mental Health · 2023 - 2028View All Grants
Education
Princeton University ·
2004
Ph.D.
University of Kentucky ·
1999
B.S.