Our studies focus on the development and function of interhemispheric connections of the mammalian brain, and we study animals and people with altered brain wiring.
Current Projects
Human Corpus Callosum Disorders
Corpus Callosum Disorders (CCD) profoundly affects how the brain is wired. We work in partnership with people who have CCD to understand how this condition impacts their cognitive, social, and emotional function.
Cellular and molecular mechanisms of early brain wiring
We are studying a family of transcription factors, nuclear factor one (Nfi), which play critical roles in early brain development. Children with mutations in Nfi genes display a variety of developmental disorders.
Activity-dependent mechanisms of early brain wiring
We want to understand how the brain first switches on activity in ensembles of circuits, and how early pattered activity might mediate the formation of mature brain circuits related to brain function.
Software
The Brain Development and Disorders Lab is on GitHub. Most software created in the lab is released under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Metadatify
Metadatify (MARS) is an open-source web-based tool to create, manage, and search large-scale scientific metadata.
Intentions Game
A three-phase, repeated social value orientation paradigm with virtual partners. Deployed for web-based experiments and MRI contexts.
Random Dot Kinematogram Virtual Reality Task
A task presenting fields of moving dots to participants in virtual reality using lateralized presentation and built using Unity. Deployed for the Meta Quest Pro headsets with eye-tracking.
Headsup
Utility server and web application to wirelessly observe Unity-based VR tasks and experiments operating on headsets.