Christopher Pack, PhD
Professor
Pack鈥檚 laboratory studies the cerebral cortex with the goal of finding out how neurons communicate information about the visual world. They use microelectrode recordings to listen to individual neurons as they talk to their neighbors. These conversations are a type of code, in effect the software that makes the brain鈥檚 hardware capable of vision. Part of this code can be understood in a straightforward way if one knows the statistics of the visual input. The relationship between these statistics and neural activity can be determined with computational methods. One of the goals of this research is to develop a quantitative understanding of how these different aspects of neural activity relate to memory, perception and behavior. They are particularly interested in the ways in which subjects use eye movements to scan their surroundings.
Neural circuits
Krause, M.R., Zanos, T.P., Csorba, B.A., Pilly, P.K., Choe, J., Phillips, M.E., Datta, A., and听Pack, C.C. (2017) Transcranial direct current stimulation facilitates associative learning and alters functional connectivity in the primate brain.听Current Biology, 27, 3086-3096.
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Neupane, S., Guitton, D., and听Pack, C.C. (2017) Coherent oscillations link current and future receptive fields during saccades.听Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA, 29, 5979-5985.
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Liu, L.D. and听Pack, C.C. (2017) The contribution of cortical area MT to visual motion perception depends on training.听Neuron, 95, 436-446.
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Liu, L.D., Haefner, R., and听Pack, C.C. (2016) Neural basis of the spatial suppression of visual motion perception.听eLife, 5, e16167.
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Cui, Y. Liu, L.D., McFarland, J.M.,听Pack, C.C., and Butts, D.A. (2016) Inferring cortical variability from local field potentials.听Journal of Neuroscience, 3, 4121-4135.
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Zanos, T.P., Mineault, P.J., Nasiotis, K., Guitton, D., and听Pack, C.C. (2015) A sensorimotor role for traveling waves in primate visual cortex.听Neuron, 85, 615-627.
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Jadauji, J., Djordjevic, J., Lundstr枚m, J., and听Pack, C.C. (2012) Modulation of olfactory processing by visual cortex stimulation.听Journal of Neuroscience, 32, 3095-3100.
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Mineault, P.J., Khawaja, F.A., Butts, D.A., and听Pack, C.C.听 (2012)听 Hierarchical processing of complex motion stimuli along the dorsal visual pathway.听听Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA,听109, E972-980.