JORDAN JANZEN-MEZA, GRADUATE STUDENT, NEUROSCIENCE PROGRAM

I am researching the neural dynamics of neurodevelopmental disorders.

Polygenetic conditions such as autism spectrum disorder are difficult to diagnose and treat because each patient expresses a unique set of causal genetic mutations. Research on individual mutations has greatly improved our understanding of the biological etiology of rare variants, but insight from these studies remains limited to 1-2% of patients diagnosed with a neurodevelopmental disorder. An alternative approach is to search for commonalities across genetically distinct patients that potentially underlie convergent behavioral phenotypes. The Hengen lab is focused on the hypothesis that criticality, an optimal computational regime, is disrupted in a systematic manner across neurodevelopmental disorders. Our findings could improve diagnostic accuracy and treatments.

To achieve this, I am using a combination of electrophysiology data from human patients and monogenetic mice models to investigate the relationship between neural activity and critical dynamics.