 
Christopher Moore studies brain dynamics and how they can change the
way we perceive from moment to moment. The brain's ability to shift
the way it processes information is crucial to surviving in an ever-changing
world, and dysregulation of these dynamics are a hallmark of
neurologic and psychiatric disease.
The laboratory is studying the mechanisms responsible for generating
brain states, how they impact the representation of a sensory input,
and how, ultimately, they change conscious perception. One area of
focus is in understanding rhythmic activity that correlates with
shifts in behavior. In this vein, they have recently demonstrated the
role of a specific cell type in generating the 'gamma' rhythm, a brain
state believed to be crucial to attention. They are also recording
brain rhythms while humans perform perceptual tasks, and have recently
found brain states that predict success in detecting a sensory input.
In addition to studying well-established brain states, the laboratory
is also testing the novel prediction that changes in blood flow in the
brain can shift neural circuits into new brain states.
The approach they take is interdisciplinary. To dissect the detailed
machinery of brain states, they are applying cellular-level imaging
techniques such as 2-photon imaging, and electrical recordings from
single-cells. They also test their hypotheses by
recording brain states from human subjects performing perceptual
tasks. Their human studies are currently focused on using
magnetoencephalography (MEG).
The primary model system they use is the sense of touch, and the
laboratory has made several discoveries on the basics of touch
perception, including the discovery of new maps in the brain, and
novel findings about how a stimulus moving across the finger can
change the way we see motion.
Christopher Moore joined the McGovern Institute at MIT as Principal
Investigator in 2003 after completing his post-doctoral research with
Dr. Michael Merzenich at UC San Francisco under an NIH fellowship and
a McDonnell-Pew award. He received his Ph.D. in systems neuroscience
from the Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences at MIT in 1998,
where he received the award for outstanding undergraduate teaching.
He received a BA with High Honors from Oberlin College, with majors in
Neuroscience and Philosophy.
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