James Knierim

About

Dr. James Knierim is a professor of neuroscience at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and a researcher at the Zanvyl Krieger Mind/Brain Institute. His research focuses on the neurophysiology of memory within the hippocampal formation. His work investigates how the hippocampus processes information, including the flow of signals through its subregions and the role of inputs from the entorhinal cortex. He uses multi-electrode arrays to record extracellular action potentials from hippocampal neurons in freely moving rats, with a particular interest in place cells that activate when the animal occupies specific locations, forming a cognitive map crucial for navigation and memory formation. His research explores how objects and landmarks are incorporated into this map and how these processes underpin episodic memory formation. Dr. Knierim's background includes a BA in psychology from Haverford College, a PhD in neurobiology from Caltech where he studied the primate visual system, and a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Arizona focusing on spatial firing characteristics of hippocampal cells. He has held faculty positions at the University of Texas Medical School at Houston before joining Johns Hopkins in 2009.

Research topics

• Artificial Intelligence
• Computer Science
• Psychology
• Neuroscience
• Evolutionary biology
• Cognitive science
• Cognitive psychology
• Biology

Selected publications

• Assessments of dentate gyrus function: discoveries and debates

  Nature reviews. Neuroscience · 2023 · 134 citations

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Parallel processing streams in the hippocampus

  Current Opinion in Neurobiology · 2020-06-05 · 85 citations

  reviewOpen accessSenior authorCorresponding
  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Control and recalibration of path integration in place cells using optic flow

  Nature Neuroscience · 2024-06-27 · 30 citations

  articleOpen access
  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Vector coding and place coding in hippocampus share a common directional signal

  Nature Communications · 2024-12-05 · 8 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  Vector coding is a major mechanism by which neural systems represent an animal’s location in both global and local, item-based reference frames. Landmark vector cells (LVCs) in the hippocampus complement classic place cells by encoding vector relationships between the organism and specific landmarks. How these place- and vector-coding properties interact is not known. We recorded place cells and LVCs using calcium imaging of the CA1 region of freely moving rats during cue-card rotation studies.…

  PublisherDOI

• Multiplexing of temporal and spatial information in the lateral entorhinal cortex

  Nature Communications · 2024-12-03 · 8 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  Episodic memory involves the processing of spatial and temporal aspects of personal experiences. The lateral entorhinal cortex (LEC) plays an essential role in subserving memory. However, the mechanisms by which LEC integrates spatial and temporal information remain elusive. Here, we recorded LEC neurons while male rats performed one-dimensional tasks. Many LEC cells displayed spatial firing fields and demonstrated selectivity for traveling directions. Furthermore, some LEC neurons changed the f…

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

Recent grants

• A Control Theoretic Approach to Addressing Hippocampal Function

  NIH · $3.6M · 2017–2028

• NIH Grant K02MH063297

  NIH · $395k · 2006

• PROJECT 1-Neural encoding based on lateral and medial entorhinal information processing streams in behaviorally-characterized aged rats

  NIH · $72.5M · 1997–2027

Frequent coauthors

• Douglas GoodSmith

  Johns Hopkins University

  79 shared

• Francesco Savelli

  Johns Hopkins University

  73 shared

• Heekyung Lee

  Nongwoo Bio (South Korea)

  59 shared

• Sachin S. Deshmukh

  47 shared

• Manu S. Madhav

  Johns Hopkins University

  40 shared

• Guo‐li Ming

  39 shared

• Cheng Wang

  Chinese Academy of Sciences

  37 shared

• Hongjun Song

  36 shared

Labs

• Krieger Mind/Brain Institute - James Knierim LabPI

Education

• Ph.D., Biology

  California Institute of Technology

  1991

• B.A., Psychology

  Haverford College

  1983

Similar researchers at Johns Hopkins University

• Richard Huganirh-210
• Michela Gallagherh-104
• Patricia Janakh-88