Wikipedia

Tom Mrsic-Flogel

Tom Mrsic-Flogel is an experimental neuroscientist. He is Director of the Sainsbury Wellcome Centre and a Professor in Neuroscience at University College London (UCL).[1] Mrsic-Flogel is a founding member of the International Brain Laboratory.[2]

Tom Mrsic-Flogel
EducationB.A. Biological Sciences

M.Sc. Neuroscience

D.Phil. Neuroscience
Alma materOxford University
OccupationProfessor of Neuroscience & Director of the Sainsbury Wellcome Centre
EmployerUniversity College London
SpouseSonja Hofer
WebsiteMrsic-Flogel Lab

Mrsic-Flogel’s research focuses on establishing mechanistic accounts of brain function, including how brain areas communicate and contribute to perception, cognition and learning.[3][4][5] His research has potential implications for psychiatric disorders such as autism and schizophrenia[6] and future applications in brain-computer interfaces (BCIs).[7][8]

Education and career edit

Mrsic-Flogel received his undergraduate degree and PhD in 2001 from Oxford University. He completed postdoctoral work with Tobias Bonhoeffer at the Max Planck Institute of Neurobiology (since 2023 named Max Planck Institute for Biological Intelligence) in Munich. In 2007, he became Lecturer and Wellcome Trust Fellow at UCL, after which he was appointed as Professor at the University of Basel.[9]

Since 2016, Mrsic-Flogel has been Director of the Sainsbury Wellcome Centre for Neural Circuits and Behaviour, an independently-funded neuroscience institute (Gatsby Charitable Foundation and Wellcome) opened in 2014 and hosted by UCL.[10]

Research and work edit

Mrsic-Flogel is known for detailing the wiring principles of the brain’s networks and how these relate to their function.[11] His work has used new approaches to measure individual synaptic connections between brain cells of known function, and molecular anatomy tools, to show the extent of influence of individual neurons on the rest of the brain.[12]

Through his research in the visual cortex, Mrsic-Flogel discovered that synaptic connections are not organized randomly but are structured according to several specific wiring principles:

  • Neurons preferentially connect if they are tuned to the same feature of visual stimuli and only if they project to the same target structure.[11][13][14]
  • Strong and reciprocal connections are found solely between neurons with the most correlated activity, while only weak connections link neurons that are uncorrelated.[15][16][17]
  • The more connections a neuron receives from its neighbours, the closer it tracks their activity.[18][19]

Mrsic-Flogel has demonstrated how the wiring of neural circuits is adjusted through experience and learning.[20] His work has shown how circuits are optimally tuned to the statistical regularities of the natural world[21] and how learning can further refine neural circuits in the adult brain.[22]

Mrsic-Flogel’s current lab studies how the brain makes decisions by combining sensory information with previously learned knowledge.[23] Research from the Mrsic-Flogel lab has revealed how visual working memory in mice is maintained across interconnected brain regions.[24]

Scientists in the Mrsic-Flogel lab have shed light on how the brain represents causally-controlled objects.[25][26] More recently, the Mrsic-Flogel lab investigated how individual neurons in mice are influenced by two different cognitive and behavioural states – attention and running – that were once thought to share a common mechanism. They found that spatial attention and running influence neurons independently with different dynamics.[27][28]

Awards edit

  • Larry Katz Prize for Innovative Research in Neuroscience 2015[29]
  • Wellcome Senior Research Fellow 2011[30]
  • Wellcome Research Career Development Fellow 2007[31]
  • Alexander von Humboldt Research Fellowship 2003–04[32]

Memberships edit

References edit

  1. ^ "Tom Mrsic-Flogel". www.sainsburywellcome.org. Retrieved 29 Nov 2023.
  2. ^ "Our Team — International Brain Laboratory". www.internationalbrainlab.com. Retrieved 29 Nov 2023.
  3. ^ "Thomas Mrsic-Flogel – Google Scholar". Google Scholar. Retrieved 29 Nov 2023.
  4. ^ Kelland, Kate (11 April 2011). "Scientists unravel brain's complexity &rsaquo". News in Science (ABC Science). Retrieved 29 Nov 2023.
  5. ^ a b "Tom Mrsic-Flogel – Allen Institute". www.alleninstitute.org. Retrieved 29 Nov 2023.
  6. ^ Makin, Simon (30 Mar 2018). ""Bar Codes" Could Map Errant Brain Wiring in Autism and Schizophrenia". Scientific American. Retrieved 29 Nov 2023.
  7. ^ "Mice taught to guide computer mouse with brain activity". Engineering and Technology. 23 Dec 2020. Retrieved 29 Nov 2023.
  8. ^ Woodyatt, Amy (3 Dec 2020). "Experimental brain implants in monkeys offer hope for restoring vision in blind people". CNN. Retrieved 29 Nov 2023.
  9. ^ "Thomas Mrsic-Flogel". www.simonsfoundation.org. Retrieved 30 Nov 2023.
  10. ^ "Sainsbury Wellcome Centre appoints new Director". UCL News. 10 Oct 2016. Retrieved 30 Nov 2023.
  11. ^ a b Ko, Ho; Hofer, Sonja B.; Pichler, Bruno; Buchanan, Katherine A.; Sjöström, P. Jesper; Mrsic-Flogel, Thomas D. (2011). "Functional specificity of local synaptic connections in neocortical networks". Nature. 473 (7345): 87–91. doi:10.1038/nature09880. ISSN 1476-4687. PMC 3089591. PMID 21478872.
  12. ^ Okun, Michael; Steinmetz, Nicholas; Cossell, Lee; Iacaruso, M. Florencia; Ko, Ho; Barthó, Péter; Moore, Tirin; Hofer, Sonja B.; Mrsic-Flogel, Thomas D.; Carandini, Matteo; Harris, Kenneth D. (2015). "Diverse coupling of neurons to populations in sensory cortex". Nature. 521 (7553): 511–515. doi:10.1038/nature14273. ISSN 1476-4687. PMC 4449271. PMID 25849776.
  13. ^ Lindsay, Grace (8 Feb 2019). "Some Neurons Break the Fire-Together, Wire-Together Rule". Simons Foundation – Global Brain News. Retrieved 1 Dec 2023.
  14. ^ "Neurons that fire together, don't always wire together". www.sainsburywellcome.org. 8 Nov 2018. Retrieved 1 Dec 2023.
  15. ^ Cossell, Lee; Iacaruso, Maria Florencia; Muir, Dylan R.; Houlton, Rachael; Sader, Elie N.; Ko, Ho; Hofer, Sonja B.; Mrsic-Flogel, Thomas D. (2015). "Functional organization of excitatory synaptic strength in primary visual cortex". Nature. 518 (7539): 399–403. doi:10.1038/nature14182. ISSN 1476-4687. PMC 4843963. PMID 25652823.
  16. ^ "The brain's social network: Nerve cells interact like friends on Facebook". www.unibas.ch. 5 Feb 2015. Retrieved 1 Dec 2023.
  17. ^ "Quality over Quantity: synaptic strength an important factor in neuronal relationships". www.scientifica.uk.com. Retrieved 1 Dec 2023.
  18. ^ "New Barcode-Based Tracing Method Uncovers the Logic of Single Neuron Projections". Technology Networks. 29 Mar 2018. Retrieved 1 Dec 2023.
  19. ^ Han, Yunyun; Kebschull, Justus M.; Campbell, Robert A. A.; Cowan, Devon; Imhof, Fabia; Zador, Anthony M.; Mrsic-Flogel, Thomas D. (2018). "The logic of single-cell projections from visual cortex". Nature. 556 (7699): 51–56. doi:10.1038/nature26159. ISSN 1476-4687. PMC 6585423. PMID 29590093.
  20. ^ Poort, Jasper; Khan, Adil G.; Pachitariu, Marius; Nemri, Abdellatif; Orsolic, Ivana; Krupic, Julija; Bauza, Marius; Sahani, Maneesh; Keller, Georg B.; Mrsic-Flogel, Thomas D.; Hofer, Sonja B. (2015). "Learning Enhances Sensory and Multiple Non-sensory Representations in Primary Visual Cortex". Neuron. 86 (6): 1478–1490. doi:10.1016/j.neuron.2015.05.037. ISSN 1097-4199. PMC 4503798. PMID 26051421.
  21. ^ Pecka, Michael; Han, Yunyun; Sader, Elie; Mrsic-Flogel, Thomas D. (2014). "Experience-dependent specialization of receptive field surround for selective coding of natural scenes". Neuron. 84 (2): 457–469. doi:10.1016/j.neuron.2014.09.010. ISSN 1097-4199. PMC 4210638. PMID 25263755.
  22. ^ "Disentangling the interneuron web of learning". www.sainsburywellcome.org. 21 May 2018. Retrieved 1 Dec 2023.
  23. ^ "Mrsic-Flogel lab". www.sainsburywellcome.org. Retrieved 1 Dec 2023.
  24. ^ Voitov, Ivan; Mrsic-Flogel, Thomas D. (2022). "Cortical feedback loops bind distributed representations of working memory". Nature. 608 (7922): 381–389. doi:10.1038/s41586-022-05014-3. ISSN 1476-4687. PMC 9365695. PMID 35896749.
  25. ^ Clancy, Kelly B.; Mrsic-Flogel, Thomas D. (2021). "The sensory representation of causally controlled objects". Neuron. 109 (4): 677–689.e4. doi:10.1016/j.neuron.2020.12.001. ISSN 1097-4199. PMC 7889580. PMID 33357383.
  26. ^ Berman, Robby (23 Dec 2020). "Mice with brain-machine interfaces help scientists understand "intentional control"". Big Think. Retrieved 1 Dec 2023.
  27. ^ Kanamori, Takahiro; Mrsic-Flogel, Thomas D. (2022). "Independent response modulation of visual cortical neurons by attentional and behavioral states". Neuron. 110 (23): 3907–3918.e6. doi:10.1016/j.neuron.2022.08.028. ISSN 1097-4199. PMID 36137550.
  28. ^ "Attention and Running Influence Individual Brain Cells Independently". www.technologynetworks.com. 22 Sep 2022. Retrieved 1 Dec 2023.
  29. ^ "Sainsbury Wellcome Centre appoints new Director". www.ucl.ac.uk. 10 Oct 2016. Retrieved 8 Dec 2023.
  30. ^ Kaplan, Karen (15 Feb 2012). "Funding: Got to get a grant". www.nature.com. Retrieved 8 Dec 2023.
  31. ^ "Support for the brightest minds" (PDF). wellcome.org. Dec 2011. Retrieved 8 Dec 2023.
  32. ^ a b "Assessment of Research Quality" (PDF). knaw.nl. Retrieved 8 Dec 2023.
  33. ^ "Thomas Mrsic-Flogel". www.fens.org. Retrieved 8 Dec 2023.
  34. ^ "The Programme Committee". www.fens.org. Retrieved 8 Dec 2023.
  35. ^ "Virtual brain lab brings together world-leading neuroscientists". www.ucl.ac.uk. 19 Sep 2017. Retrieved 8 Dec 2023.
  36. ^ "Tom Mrsic-Flogel Profile | University College London". ucl.ac.uk. Retrieved 8 Dec 2023.
  37. ^ "ALBA team | Alba Network". www.alba.network. Retrieved 8 Dec 2023.
  38. ^ "Sunposium 2017" (PDF). www.maxplanckflorida.org. Retrieved 8 Dec 2023.
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