Andrea Benucci

Andrea Benucci, PhD

Team Leader
Center for Brain Science
RIKEN

Email: andrea@benuccilab.net

Connect with me

Biography

Our laboratory studies the neural basis of sensory processing with a major focus on vision. We are particularly interested in understanding the computational rules used by populations of neurons in the visual cortex to process visual information: how does the coordinated activity of groups of neurons, “talking” among each other via action potentials, produce a visual percept? What are the relevant spatial and temporal scales used to process visual information? To address these questions, we are using as a model system the primary visual cortex of mice trained in behavioural tasks. The experimental tools we are using are based on cutting-edge methods in Optogenetics, optical imaging, and electrode recording. This research provides an ideal test-bed for understanding the neural mechanisms of visual perception and its outcomes have the potential to provide important clinical applications in the field of cortical visual prostheses.

Education:

Ph.D., Neuroscience, 2003, INSTITUTE OF NEUROINFORMATICS, UNIVERSITY OF ZÜRICH/ETH Zürich, CH
M.S., Computational Neuroscience, 1998 – 99, INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL FOR ADVANCED STUDIES Trieste, IT
B.S., Physics, 1999, UNIVERSITA` DI PADOVA Padua, IT

Undergraduate, Biophysics, 1995 – 96, UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA SAN DIEGO
Undergraduate, Biophysics, 1996 – 97, IMPERIAL COLLEGE London, UK

Employment:

2018 March – current, Team Leader (Assistant Professor), Center for Brain Science, RIKEN Wako, JP
2013 Sept – 2018 March, Team Leader (Assistant Professor), Brain Science Institute, RIKEN Wako, JP
2008 – 2013, Senior Research Associate, UCL Institute of Ophthalmology, University College London London, UK
2005 – 2008, Research Associate, Smith-Kettlewell Eye Research Institute San Francisco, US
2003 – 2005, Postdoctoral Fellow, Smith-Kettlewell Eye Research Institute San Francisco, US

Affiliations:

2013–current, Honorary Senior Lecturer, University College London London, UK
2019–current, Adjunct Professor Tokyo, JP, University of Tokyo, Graduate School of Information Science and Technology

Projects