Nicole Rust

We have a remarkable ability to store memories of the objects and scenes we have encountered after viewing thousands, each only once and for a few seconds. To understand the neural basis of visual memory, my lab combines investigations of human and animal visual memory behaviors, measurements and manipulations of neural activity, and computational modeling. One emphasis in our work is directed at algorithmic (or mathematical) descriptions of the brain's learning rules as well as descriptions of how populations of neurons signal visual memory percepts.  A complementary emphasis is focused on understanding where and how visual memories are stored by targeting the circuit and synaptic mechanisms responsible for visual memory storage.