|
Christopher Moore studies brain dynamics and how they can change the way we perceive from moment to moment. The brain's ability to shift the way it processes information is crucial to surviving in an ever-changing world, and dysregulation of these dynamics are a hallmark of neurologic and psychiatric disease.
The laboratory is studying the mechanisms responsible for generating brain states, how they impact the representation of a sensory input, and how, ultimately, they change conscious perception. One area of focus is in understanding rhythmic activity that correlates with shifts in behavior. In this vein, they have recently demonstrated the role of a specific cell type in generating the 'gamma' rhythm, a brain state believed to be crucial to attention. They are also recording brain rhythms while humans perform perceptual tasks, and have recently found brain states that predict success in detecting a sensory input. In addition to studying well-established brain states, the laboratory is also testing the novel prediction that changes in blood flow in the brain can shift neural circuits into new brain states.
The approach they take is interdisciplinary. To dissect the detailed machinery of brain states, they are applying cellular-level imaging techniques such as 2-photon imaging, and electrical recordings from single-cells. They also test their hypotheses by recording brain states from human subjects performing perceptual tasks. Their human studies are currently focused on using magnetoencephalography (MEG).
The primary model system they use is the sense of touch, and the laboratory has made several discoveries on the basics of touch perception, including the discovery of new maps in the brain, and novel findings about how a stimulus moving across the finger can change the way we see motion.
Christopher Moore joined the McGovern Institute at MIT as Principal Investigator in 2003 after completing his post-doctoral research with Dr. Michael Merzenich at UC San Francisco under an NIH fellowship and a McDonnell-Pew award. He received his Ph.D. in systems neuroscience from the Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences at MIT in 1998, where he received the award for outstanding undergraduate teaching. He received a BA with High Honors from Oberlin College, with majors in Neuroscience and Philosophy. | 