Hemanth Mohan
Assistant Professor
The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston
McGovern Medical School
Department of Neurobiology and Anatomy
The Mohan Lab is focused on understanding the neural circuit mechanisms that govern the transformation of sensation to action to drive goal directed behaviors. Sensory inputs from peripheral organs, such as the skin and eyes, are relayed through neurons that synapse at various levels of the nervous system, including the spinal cord, brainstem, thalamus, and ultimately, the cortex. Within cortical circuits, these sensory signals integrate with higher-order cognitive information to generate motor commands depending on the goal and environmental demand. Neurons in the cortex perform these computations by communicating with other regions across the brain through axonal projections. These communication pathways process specialized information depending on the regions they connect to and the required computations. Despite advances in understanding these circuits, the neural code, network dynamics, and computational mechanisms that underlie their interactions remain elusive.
Students in the lab will be part of a multidisciplinary team investigating these principles in awake, behaving mice. They will learn to integrate genetic, molecular, and viral strategies with techniques such as widefield and two-photon imaging, high-density electrophysiology, and high-speed video recording to measure single-cell, population-level, and inter-areal network dynamics in behaving mice. They will also learn to use high-resolution neuroanatomical tracing approaches to reveal circuit connectivity, as well as chemogenetic and optogenetic tools for precise manipulation of neural activity. Additionally, they will gain experience with computational modeling approaches and learn how to apply machine learning and AI techniques to analyze high-dimensional neural and behavioral data.
Education & Training
PhD, Vrije Universiteit, 2017