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| Name |
Buzsaki, Gyorgy |
| Location
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New York University Langone Medical Center |
| Primary Field
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Systems Neuroscience |
| Secondary Field
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Psychological and Cognitive Sciences |
 Election Citation
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Buzsáki pioneered the experimental exploration of coordinated, rhythmic neuronal activity during hippocampal-neocortical dialogue leading to representations in synaptic circuits of neuronal assemblies. He defined the synaptic-cellular mechanisms of hippocampal sharp waves, theta and gamma oscillations, and formulated a theory for their role in information transfer and memory. |
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Research Interests
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Buzsáki's primary interests is "neural syntax", i.e., how segmentation of neural information is organized by the numerous brain rhythms to support cognitive functions.. He identified the cellular-synaptic basis of hippocampal theta, gamma oscillations and sharp waves with associated fast oscillations, their relationship to each other and to behavior and sleep. He was the first to demonstrate the role of GABAergic interneurons in network oscillations. Buzsaki's recognition of the importance hierarchical organization of brain rhythms of different frequencies and their cross-frequency coupling has opened up opportunities for the dissection of cognitive mechanisms in health and disease.
His most influential work, the two-stage model of memory trace consolidation, demonstrates how the neocortex-mediated information during learning transiently modifies hippocampal networks, followed by reactivation and consolidation of these memory traces during sharp wave-ripple patterns of sleep. Buzsaki's demonstration that in the absence of changing environmental signals, cortical circuits continuously generate self-organized cell assembly sequences is a breakthrough for the neuronal assembly basis of cognitive functions. His recent experiments demonstrated how skewed distribution of firing rates supports robustness, sensitivity, plasticity and stability in neuronal networks.
To achieve these goals he has pioneered numerous technical innovations, including large-scale recording methods using silicon chips and the NeuroGrid, an organic, comformable electrode system used in both animal and patients. |
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