SearchPostdoctoral and research technician positions available. If you are interested in joining our laboratory, please contact [email protected] with a CV and a cover letter.
As of October 2024, the Hamm lab has moved to the Emotional Brain Institute at the Nathan S. Kline Institute for Psychiatric Research.
We study the function of neocortex at the cell- and circuit-level, how it develops in adolescence, and how it is altered in schizophrenia. A central framework motivating our research is predictive coding – a theory that depicts the brain as a predictive system, generating expectations about the world and responding mainly when sensory information betrays expectations, saving resources and facilitating learning.
One major project focuses on understanding how visual information is integrated with context across hierarchical brain networks. Another major project aims to identify the developmental role of microglia in shaping neocortical circuitry that supports cognition.
We work with awake mouse models, both wild-type and transgenic. Primary techniques are two-photon calcium imaging, multielectrode recordings (neuropixels, SiNaPs), opto/chemicogenetics, and behavior. We also carry out EEG studies in human populations, aimed at translating our rodent findings for interpretation and clinical perspective.
Recently, we posted a preprint showing how, in both mice and humans, psychedelic compounds may alter predictive processing in the visual system, shifting the balance of top-down vs bottom-up processing.
For a list of our publications: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=rXbR2jAAAAAJ&hl=en
See also www.jordanphamm.com for more information.