Research Theme:
Human Interfacing Devices, Imaging and Computational Biology,Research Interests:
neural systems and behaviour; quantifying algorithms of neural computation; flexible neural encoding electrophysiology; virtual reality; early detection of Alzheimer’s and other dementias
Biography:
Dr. Madhav is an engineer and roboticist turned neuroscientist, and the Tier 2 Canada Research Chair in Neural Circuits of Cognition and Control. His research focuses on the role of neural circuits in navigation and memory. The NC4 lab records neurons that encode navigational signals such as place cells and grid cells in rodents performing tasks in virtual reality. They construct custom large-scale apparatuses that enable free rodent behaviour and electrophysiology. They also perform behavioural experiments on human participants navigating in virtual reality environments, with the goal of understanding how aspects of navigation degrade with normative aging and with dementias such as Alzheimer Disease.
RESEARCH EXCELLENCE:
We create innovative apparatuses to record neural activity during free behavior in animals while controlling sensory cues. Our contributions include the virtual reality rodent Dome and optical tracking methods. We’re developing a Maze apparatus with dynamic control over routes and stimuli. Using machine learning, we analyze neural data structure to decode the nervous system, embracing naturalistic behaviour complexity.