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SUMMARY:Faculty Seminar Mackenzie W. Mathis: Measuring and modeling neural
  circuits driving adaptive behavior
DTSTART:20250925T121500
DTEND:20250925T131500
DTSTAMP:20260509T025353Z
UID:0a5f466a078ac35424c9296bec141c6e41148f180da05aa10885709e
CATEGORIES:Conferences - Seminars
DESCRIPTION:Prof. Mackenzie W. Mathis\nAbstract\nOur world is always chang
 ing: how do our brains adapt? My lab seeks to decode the neural algorithms
  behind adaptive sensorimotor behavior. We conduct interdisciplinary resea
 rch at the intersection of systems neuroscience\, computer vision\, and ma
 chine learning\, with a dual focus: engineering robust methods to model ne
 ural and behavioral data\, and using these methods to uncover neural circu
 it mechanisms. We have developed widely used open-source tools - including
  DeepLabCut for markerless pose estimation and CEBRA for joint modeling of
  neural and behavioral data - that enable precise\, interpretable analysis
  of complex\, high-dimensional datasets in neuroscience.\n\nBy combining t
 heory-driven experiments in mice with AI-powered analysis\, we aim to reve
 al core principles of brain function that enable intelligent\, flexible be
 havior. Specifically\, we probe how the brain builds and refines internal 
 models to guide learning in sensorimotor tasks\, such as skilled joystick 
 manipulation or navigation. Our recent discoveries identified a critical c
 ortical area essential for proprioceptive learning and point to a canonica
 l circuit that may underlie computations fundamental to adaptive behavior.
 \n\nBio\nMackenzie Weygandt Mathis studied systems neuroscience at Harvard
  University\, where she earned her PhD in 2017 under the supervision of Pr
 of. Naoshige Uchida. She was then appointed a faculty member at the Rowlan
 d Institute at Harvard in 2017 - a program enabling her to transition dire
 ctly from PhD to leading an independent laboratory. Since mid-2020\, she h
 as been a Tenure Track Assistant Professor at EPFL\, where she holds the B
 ertarelli Foundation Chair of Integrative Neuroscience. Her lab combines s
 ystems neuroscience\, machine learning\, and computer vision to study the 
 neural basis of adaptive sensorimotor control.\n\nShe is an ELLIS Scholar\
 , Vallee Scholar\, and former NSF Graduate Fellow. She has been featured i
 n profiles in Nature\, The Atlantic\, Le Temps\, and Bloomberg BusinessWee
 k\, and recognized with several awards\, including the FENS EJN Young Inve
 stigator Prize (2022)\, the Eric Kandel Young Neuroscientist Prize (2023)\
 , the Robert Bing Prize from the Swiss Medical Association (2024)\, and th
 e National Swiss Science Prize Latsis (2024). She has received internation
 al funding from the NIH Brain Initiative\, holds an SNSF "ERC" Starting Gr
 ant\, and co-leads the newly formed Simons Collaboration on Ecological Neu
 roscience.\n\nThis seminar is part of the evaluation of Prof. Mackenzie W.
  Mathis for the promotion to Associate Professor.\n\n\n 
LOCATION:SV 1717 https://plan.epfl.ch/?room==SV%201717 https://epfl.zoom.u
 s/j/61298563824
STATUS:CONFIRMED
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