Current Research
Research within the CSBMB focuses on the neural mechanisms underlying higher mental function. This work draws on a range of theoretical and empirical methods from the molecular to the systems levels. These approaches and the corresponding facilities are described in greater detail on the individual pages listed below, which include pointers to the home pages for the laboratories that use these approaches, and the foci of their scientific interests.Approaches
Cellular and Circuit-Level
Understanding how the brain transforms sensory stimuli into perceptions, memories, and actions requires not only knowledge of its molecular and cellular components, but also an understanding of the principles by which the these components interact. Faculty in the Center use modern techniques such as two-photon fluorescence microscopy, multi-electrode recording, patch clamp recording and pharmacological manipulation. Function is studied at the level of synapses and dendrites, as well as neural circuits in the retina, cerebellum, brainstem, and cerebral cortex.
Two-Photon Fluorescence Microscopy and Uncaging.
Retinal Encoding and Processing
Measurement and Analysis of Neural Circuit Dynamics
Brain Monoamine Neurotransmitters
Functions of the Cerebral Cortex in Behavior
Cognitive Electrophysiology
The EEG lab enables researchers seeking to understand the correlation of neural and cognitive processes to do so via the use of EEG (electroencephalography). Please look at the various pages of this website to
learn more about the lab, its current happenings, its associated personnel, EEG recording, how to participate in a study, and more.
Princeton University Cognitive Electrophysiology Laboratory
Functional Neuroimaging and Cognitive Behavioral Testing
Functional brain imaging is the non-invasive measurement of brain activity associated with mental function. This techinque relies on an interdisciplinary approach involving close collaborations among physicists, chemists, and engineers to design methods for image acquisition; behavioral scientists and neuroscientists to design experiments that engage brain regions specific to mental functions of interest; and mathematicians and statisticians to design new methods of processing and analyzing the large and complex datasets that these methods generate. The CSBMB pulls together leading experts in each of these areas, drawing upon existing state-of-the-art methods of brain imaging, and developing new ones, to understand the neural bases of higher mental function.
Neural Bases of Higher Mental Function
Development of Advanced Methods for Functional Brain Imaging
Emotion and Cognition in Moral Judgment: An fMRI Investigation
Human Neural Systems for Face and Object Perception
Social Cognition and Person Perception
Visual coding and the deployment of attention
The Effects of Experience on Brain Structure
Mathematical Analysis and Neural Network Modeling
Computational Neurobiology/Biophysics
Analysis Methods for fMRI Data Sets
Molecular and Genetic
Molecular biology and genetics provide powerful tools for understanding and manipulating the brain at the most fundamental levels of organization. Recent years have seen an explosion of knowledge about the development of neurons and neural pathways, receptors and signaling mechanisms, and mechanisms and patterns of gene expression. These findings are making a profound impact on our understanding of the nervous system. Furthermore, experimental control of gene expression allows neural circuits and cognition to be perturbed in a controlled fashion. Faculty in the Center use molecular and genetic approaches to identify cell types, trace functional connections, elucidate molecular mechanisms of learning and memory, and investigate the proliferation and survival of neurons in the brain.
Neuronal Cell Types and Their Functional Connections
Neuronal Proliferation and Survival
Philosophy
The nature of the mind and its relationship to the body have long been objects of intense investigation by philosophers. With the rise of modern science, questions that were once the concern of philosophers exclusively have become amenable to empirical investigation and, most recently, to investigation through the methods of cognitive neuroscience. As the concerns of philosophy and "hard science" continue to merge, investigators from both traditions are increasingly in a position to contribute to each others' projects. Two examples of such interdisciplinary work undertaken by philosophers at the CSBMB are described below.
Phenomenology and the Science of Perception
Technical Reports
View CSBMB's Technical Reports and their accompanying PDF files.
View all Technical ReportsCollaborating Programs
NIMH Silvio O. Conte Center for Neuroscience Research
The objectives of this Center Grant are to identify and characterize the neural mechanisms involved in conflict detection and the allocation of control.