 
School of Medicine
123 Anatomy Chemistry Building/6074
University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA 19104
Office phone: (215) 573.3211
Lab phone: (215) 898.7536
Fax: (215) 573.9871
E-mail: michael@retina.anatomy.upenn.edu
Research Interests
A fundamental question in neuroscience is how quantized events, such as vesicle release and spike generation, transmit information. If information were encoded by event rate, decoding would require noting the number of events in an interval. But if encoding were by event timing, decoding would require noting the pattern of intervals. A rate code is advantageous, given sufficient events in an integration interval, because it compensates for neural noise that disrupts event timing. A timing code is advantageous, given sufficient temporal precision, because it requires fewer events to convey the same amount of information. Thus, whether rate or timing is better depends on:
(1) how much neural noise is present.
(2) how many events can occur in an integration interval.
(3) how precisely events can be timed.
My research addresses each of these areas and will improve our understanding of how information is encoded by the nervous system.
Graduae Groups
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