Home Department: Biology
Mentor: Maria Barna (Genetics)

“Investigating Mechanisms of Cancer Resistance in Ambystoma mexicanum”

Many brain functions require information be accumulated and stored (including perception, decision making, walking, and more), through a process that can be conceived as a mathematical integration. Aaron is investigating how a brain area called the cerebellum contributes to this process by studying eye movements. The neural commands controlling eye movements need to be integrated to hold the eye position steady between movements. Aaron is analyzing how silencing the output of the cerebellum alters this neural computation and its ability to be adaptively calibrated through experience.