The Kara lab solves puzzles in sensory perception and neurovascular coupling in the mammalian brain. Our long-term goal is to obtain a comprehensive view of how the brain adapts to change in adulthood, development, and disease. The short-term goals of our current projects are to (1) resolve aspects of neural coding of binocular signals in the visual cortex, (2) build microcircuits for neurovascular coupling and (3) determine the underpinnings of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI).We use two-photon and three-photon imaging, optogenetics, and electrophysiological techniques. More specifically, we assay synaptic and spiking activity along with the responses of individual blood vessels to sensory stimuli and optogenetic activation.
