Research Framework
Brains and behaviors evolved together in a complex, dynamic world. Our goal is to understand neural computation under the conditions in which those mechanisms evolved to operate.
Natural behavior is not simply a more complicated version of a laboratory task. Perception, action, memory and social interaction continuously shape one another. What an animal sees depends on where it looks. What a vocal signal means depends on who produced it and the interaction in which it occurs. Where an animal is—and where others are—changes the information available to the brain.
Our research therefore begins with behavior. Observations of marmosets in their natural habitat help identify the problems their brains actually solve. We then develop experimentally tractable versions of those behaviors in the laboratory, combining precise measurement of gaze, movement, social interaction and the sensory environment with recordings from neural populations.
The aim is not to abandon experimental control, but to bring control to behaviors that preserve the computational structure of the real-world problem.
Current Research
Our research approaches the neural basis of natural behavior from three complementary perspectives: Communication, Social Space and Active Vision.
Communication
Communication is fundamentally an interaction between individuals. The brain must not only produce and perceive signals, but interpret them in relation to who is communicating, what has already happened, and what others are doing at that moment. We study the neural mechanisms that allow individuals to exchange information and coordinate their behavior during natural social interactions. By studying communication as it unfolds in real time, we seek to understand how the brain integrates perception, action, memory, and social knowledge to generate meaningful interactions with others.
Social Space
Animals do not simply occupy physical space—they inhabit a world structured by other individuals. Moving through that world requires knowing where you are, where others are, who they are, and how these relationships change over time. We study the neural mechanisms that transform sensory information and experience into representations of social scenes. By examining these processes during natural behavior, we seek to understand how the brain constructs the internal representations that allow an individual to represent “who is where” in the world and navigate the dynamics of primate social groups.
Active Vision
Vision is not a passive process in which the brain simply receives images of the world. We actively explore the world around us and, in doing so, control what visual information reaches the brain through movements of the eyes, head, and body. We study the neural mechanisms that support this continuous interaction between seeing and acting, from the moment-to-moment selection of visual information to the construction of stable representations that can guide behavior. Understanding vision therefore requires studying the brain while an animal is actively exploring and interacting with the world.