David W. Tank

About

David W. Tank is a Professor of Molecular Biology and Neuroscience at Princeton University. He is affiliated with the Center for the Physics of Biological Function, an NSF Physics Frontier Center. His role involves research and teaching in the fields of biophysics, molecular biology, and neuroscience, contributing to the understanding of biological functions through a physics-based approach. Further details about his specific research focus, background, and key contributions are not provided on the page.

Research topics

• Artificial Intelligence
• Computer Science
• Neuroscience
• Biology
• Psychology
• Statistics
• Algorithm
• Evolutionary biology
• Computational biology
• Mathematics

Selected publications

• Geometry of abstract learned knowledge in the hippocampus

  Nature · 2021 · 365 citations

  Senior authorCorresponding
  DOI

• The Mind of a Mouse

  Cell · 2020 · 189 citations

  DOI

• Sequential and efficient neural-population coding of complex task information

  Neuron · 2021 · 77 citations

  Senior authorCorresponding

  Recent work has highlighted that many types of variables are represented in each neocortical area. How can these many neural representations be organized together without interference and coherently maintained/updated through time? We recorded from excitatory neural populations in posterior cortices as mice performed a complex, dynamic task involving multiple interrelated variables. The neural encoding implied that highly correlated task variables were represented by less-correlated neural popul…

  DOI

• Novel stimuli evoke excess activity in the mouse primary visual cortex

  Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · 2022-01-31 · 55 citations

  articleOpen access

  To explore how neural circuits represent novel versus familiar inputs, we presented mice with repeated sets of images with novel images sparsely substituted. Using two-photon calcium imaging to record from layer 2/3 neurons in the mouse primary visual cortex, we found that novel images evoked excess activity in the majority of neurons. This novelty response rapidly emerged, arising with a time constant of 2.6 ± 0.9 s. When a new image set was repeatedly presented, a majority of neurons had simil…

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Multiple timescales of sensory-evidence accumulation across the dorsal cortex

  eLife · 2022-05-30 · 48 citations

  articleOpen access

  Cortical areas seem to form a hierarchy of intrinsic timescales, but the relevance of this organization for cognitive behavior remains unknown. In particular, decisions requiring the gradual accrual of sensory evidence over time recruit widespread areas across this hierarchy. Here, we tested the hypothesis that this recruitment is related to the intrinsic integration timescales of these widespread areas. We trained mice to accumulate evidence over seconds while navigating in virtual reality and…

  PublisherDOI

Recent grants

• Mechanisms of neural circuit dynamics in working memory

  NIH · $3.1M · 2014–2018

• Grid Cell Dynamics During Navigation In Virtual Reality

  NIH · $362k · 2012–2019

• Neural circuit imaging and stimulation at cellular resolution in virtual reality

  NIH · $3.6M · 2008–2020

Frequent coauthors

• Carlos D. Brody

  Howard Hughes Medical Institute

  62 shared

• H. Sebastian Seung

  Princeton University

  60 shared

• Emre Aksay

  Cornell University

  53 shared

• R. Baker

  48 shared

• Guy Major

  44 shared

• Sue Ann Koay

  Howard Hughes Medical Institute

  37 shared

• Brett D. Mensh

  Howard Hughes Medical Institute

  35 shared

• Jeffrey L. Gauthier

  Swarthmore College

  33 shared

Similar researchers at Princeton University

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• Robert Austinh-95
• Ned S. Wingreenh-84