We are a computational and theoretical neuroscience research group at the University of Maryland College Park studying visual and auditory system function. We combine cutting-edge approaches in statistical computation and machine learning combined with state-of-the-art experimental neurophysiology recorded in collaboration with local and international collaborators.

OPPORTUNITIES FOR UNDERGRADUATE INVOLVEMENT. There are several opportunities for undergraduates to be involved in research projects in the lab, although requires a sufficient background in computer programming and applications of mathematics coursework up through linear algebra. Please contact Dan Butts if you are interested, and please be sure to send relevant information.

Lab News

• [01.09.20] A new lab preprint with Bruno Averbeck: A latent variable approach to decoding neural population activity is now up on bioRxiv.org.
• [09.17.19] Our statistical modeling review is out in Annual Review of Vision Science: Data-driven approaches to understanding visual neuron activity.
• [08.26.19] Our review on latent variable models and population activity "The quest for interpretable models of neural population activity" came out in Current Opinion in Neurobiology. [PDF]
• [06.18.19] Paper published with the Singer lab (UMD): "Functional characterization of retinal ganglion cells using tailored nonlinear modeling" is out in Scientific Reports. [PDF]
• [04.27.19] Lab paper: "Characterizing the nonlinear structure of shared variability in cortical neuron populations using latent variable models" is now published in NBDT. [PDF]
• [11.02.18] Lab attended SFN in San Diego and presented two posters.
• [8.01.18] Collaborating lab's paper from V. Bonin group: Behavioral response to visual motion impacts population coding in the mouse visual thalamus, posted on bioRxiv.org.
• [5.30.18] Congratulations to Matt Whiteway, who graduated with his Ph.D. in Applied Mathematics and Scientific Computation. He is now at the Zuckerman Institute at Columbia University.
• [5.18.18] Felix Bartsch presented a poster: Characterizing neural processing in foveal and parafoveal primary visual cortex at the Visual Sciences Society (VSS) meeting in St. Pete Beach, FL.
• [12.07.17] Lab paper: Cortical computations via transient attractors, published in PLoS One.
• [11.12.17] Matt Whiteway presented a new framework for measuring information present in population neural activity at SFN.
• [08.28.17] Dan's sabbatical at the NIH ended, and he is back to teaching Computational Neuroscience in the fall and Principles of Neuroscience in the Spring.
• [5.23.17] Collaborating lab's paper from the Kanold lab (UMD): Spatial organization of the mouse auditory cortex to sound dynamics revealed using automated image segmentation, posted on bioRvix.org.
• [03.01.17] Lab paper: Revealing unobserved factors underlying cortical activity using a rectified latent variable model applied to neural population recordings published in Journal of Neurophysiology.
• [02.23.17] Two lab presentations at the Computational and Systems Neuroscience (Cosyne) conference.
• [12.21.16] Congratulations to Oliver Rourke, who graduated with his Ph.D. in Applied Mathematics and Scientific Computation. He is now at Google.
• [11.15.16] Matt Whiteway presented his new latent variable model at SFN. [Preprint]
• [11.14.16] Lab paper: Divisive suppression explains high-precision firing and contrast adaptation in retinal ganglion cells with Jonathan Demb's lab (Yale) published in eLife.
• [09.16.16] Lab paper with Alex Casti (Fairleigh Dickinson) published in Journal of Neurophysiology: Nonlinear computation shaping temporal processing of pre-cortical vision.
• [09.01.16] Dan started his sabbatical at NIH with the Lab of Neuropsychology within the National Institute of Mental Health.
• [08.30.16] Preprint available for lab paper: Revealing unobserved factors underlying cortical activity using a rectified latent variable model applied to neural population recordings. [Now in press at Journal of Neurophysiology.]
• [07.24.16] We are inviting applications for a postdoctoral position in the lab. See above, and feel free to contact Dan Butts for more information.
• [07.19.16] Preprint available for lab paper: Divisive suppression explains high-precision firing and contrast adaptation in retinal ganglion cells.
• [06.08.2016] Lab paper published in Journal of Neuroscience: Variability and correlations in primary visual cortical neurons driven by fixational eye movements, with Bruce Cumming's lab (NIH).
• [04.06.2016] Lab paper published in Journal of Neuroscience: Inferring cortical variability from local field potentials, with Chris Pack's lab (McGill University).
• [10.17.2015] Lab presentation at Society for Neuroscience conference in Chicago.
• [09.15.2015] Lab paper published in Nature Communications: Saccadic modulation of stimulus processing in primary visual cortex, with Bruce Cumming's lab (NIH).
• [05.22.2015] Congratulations to Dr. Yuwei Cui, the first Ph.D. from the lab!
• [03.06.2015] Two lab presentations at Computational and Systems Neuroscience (Cosyne) conference.
• [12.15.2014] James McFarland featured in Maryland Diamondback article about UMD research rankings.
• [11.23.2014] Congratulations to Fang Cao who has been named a Rhodes Scholar. [press release]
• [11.15.2014] Lab presentations at Society for Neuroscience Conference 2014 in Washington DC.
• [09.08.2014] Lab paper published in Nature Communications: High-resolution eye tracking using V1 neuron activity with Bruce Cumming's lab (NIH). [Code available]
• [09.01.2014] Congratulations to Dan Butts for receiving an NSF Early Career Award.
• [08.25.2014] Congratulations to Yuwei Cui who was awarded the William Hodos Dissertation Research Assistantship.
• [06.01.2014] Congratulations to Carl Sabottke who was awarded an NSF graduate fellowship (GRFP).
• [03.21.2014] Congratulations to Daniel Farias for receiving Honorable Mention in Goldwater Scholar competition. [press release]
• [01.02.2014] Dataset from Area MT in naturalistic optic flow stimulus (recorded by collaborating lab of Chris Pack, McGill) now available on CRCNS.org
• [12.09.2013] Congratulations to James McFarland who was awarded an NIH postdoctoral fellowship (NRSA)
• [10.16.2013] Lab paper published in Journal of Neuroscience: Diverse Suppressive Influences in Area MT and Selectivity to Complex Motion Features
• [07.13.2013] Lab paper published in PLoS Computational Biology: Inferring Nonlinear Neuronal Computation Based on Physiologically Plausible Inputs. [Code available]