As part of The Kids Interested In Technology, Engineering, and Science (KITES) festival, members of the Stanley Lab visited Scott Elementary to teach several classes of students about neuroscience and muscle physiology. The demonstration, organized by lab member Audrey Sederberg, involved using a Backyard Brains EMG Kit and custom-built software to demonstrate … More Stanley Lab Demonstrates How Our Brain Controls Our Muscles at Scott Elementary Science and Technology Festival

1st year PhD student Elaida Dimwamwa was awarded the NSF pre-doctoral fellowship and plans to investigate the role of cortico-thalamic feedback in shaping tactile perception.  

Abstract: Little is known about whether information transfer at primary sensory thalamic nuclei is modified by behavioral context. Here we studied the influence of previous decisions/rewards on current choices and preceding spike responses of ventro-posterior medial thalamus (VPm, the primary sensory thalamus in the rat whisker-related tactile system). We trained head-fixed … More New Publication – Primary tactile thalamus spiking reflects cognitive signals