Fan Lab

How does the brain support learning and memory?
Identify the learning rules and the synaptic basis of memory

Research

QUESTIONS

The ability of the brain to learn from and remember experiences lies at the heart of our existence and individuality.  Disorders of memory represent a huge challenge to society.  The goal of our lab is to decipher the neural codes underlying learning and memory and to identify the physical basis of learning and memory.  Our main questions are:

1. What are the learning rules of brain circuits? For instance, what kinds of activity trigger the encoding and storage of information?

2. How are the learning rules implemented? For instance, where is the information stored?

3. Ultimately can we infer the memories from mapping the neural functional connectivity patterns?

APPROACHES

Addressing these questions requires understanding the language the brain uses to speak to itself, the little electrical impulses of neurons.  We have worked on developing and applying high-precision all-optical technologies for simultaneously mapping and controlling membrane potential in specific neurons within the intact brain.  We continue to develop and apply these cutting-edge technologies and integrate them with behavioral, molecular, and computational approaches to understand how the brain encodes, stores, and recalls information.

News

Awards (2024-07)

Congrats to Adrienne on receiving the Sculpted Light in the Brain travel award!  Linlin received the Whitehall Foundation Research Grant and the Klingenstein-Simons Fellowship Award in Neuroscience.

New postdocs (2024-07)

Xiaoyi Wang from Imperial College London and Kailong Wen from the University of Chicago join the team as new postdocs.  Welcome both!

Welcome Navid (2024-06)

Navid Ghazi from UCSD joins us as a new technical associate.  Welcome Navid!

First graduate student (2024-04)

Adrienne officially joins the lab.  Hooray!

New paper in Science (2024-01)

Our new paper on inhibitory synaptic plasticity just got accepted to Science.  Congratulations!  Great collaboration with Ivan Soltesz and Barna Dudok.

Welcome to Adrienne (2024-01)

Adrienne Kashay from the BCS program joins us for a rotation.  Welcome Adrienne!

Lab launched (2024-01)

The lab launched on January 16, 2024.

Join us?

We are always looking for passionate people to join us.
We are committed to mentoring the next generation of scientists.