Marc A. Sommer Research Group

Duke University

How do frontal cortex circuits coordinate with other brain areas to enable stable visual perception and behavior? The lab studies circuits for corollary discharge and their impact on visual processing using psychophysics, neural recordings, and computational robotics. Researchers apply single-neuron and population-level electrophysiology, optogenetics and genetic methods to dissect circuit function in behaving animals. The group tests and improves viral vector technologies for reliable gene delivery in non-human primates using directed evolution and serotype comparisons. The lab studies effects of transcranial magnetic stimulation on single neurons and circuits to establish principles for rational clinical design.