JORDAN JANZEN-MEZA, GRADUATE STUDENT, DBBS NEUROSCIENCE

I seek to understand the organizing network principles of neuronal development

Neurodevelopment is a complex multi-stage process involving the specialization and localization of numerous neuronal subtypes. This process is shaped by the evolutionary pressure of engaging with a dynamic external world. Developing nervous systems adapt to this pressure through the formation of cognition. However, the rules, or organizing principles, governing the emergence of cognition are unknown. I believe that a special computational regime of neuronal population activity known as neural criticality serves as one organizing principle of neurodevelopment and underlies diverse cognitive outcomes.

To advance this idea, I am analyzing electrophysiology data from both human patients and mice models to understand the relationship between neurodevelopment, neural criticality, and cognitive outcomes.