Neural-
pertaining to a nerve or nerves or the nervous system, Greek origin
-urgist
One who practices the science, technique, or process of working with the specified matter, as in "Thaumaturgist", Greek origin
WESLEY CHARLES SMITH, PHD
Research into neurophysics, neural criticality, and consciousness
I'm an early career postdoctoral scholar at UCLA in the WM Keck Center for Neurophysics. Join me for my updates on my usage of cutting edge neural recording tools, as well as ponderings on consciousness, current issues, and social awareness both in and outside of science
BIO
Just another transhumanist, riding that quantum brain wave singularity
The way forward in neuroscience will involve larger and larger scale datasets. My current aim is to create a framework for understanding these new data, in the context of neural criticality and fractal physiology, as research in criticality is greatly served by long recordings of many interacting elements. My goal is to piece together further support for a slightly subcritcal brain network as a fundamental necessity of consciousness emerging from complex systems, both organic and inorganic. That is to say, among real brains and potentially real generalized artificial intelligence in the form of neuromorphic computers.
MY EXPERIENCE
Scientific Work
HONORS UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCHER, ON THE DEAN'S LIST AT THE UNIVERSITY OF IOWA
2008-2010
Research advisor: Daniel F. Eberl
Designed an acoustic trauma chamber, made electrophysiological recordings in Drosophila antennae, uncovered hidden auditory phenotypes in flies heterozygous for a mutant ATPase, and was the first to reveal acoustic trauma in invertebrates
Generated new fly lines with fluorescent reporters in mitochondria
NEUROSCIENCE PHD STUDENT AT UCLA
2010-2012
Research advisor: Jin Hyung Lee
Established a novel optogenetic model of epilepsy in vivo at the whole-brain circuit level using optogenetic fMRI (ofMRI) and EEG coupled to a novel behavioral monitoring set up in rats
Discovered reproducible, frequency-dependent neural networks recruited by dorsal and intermediate hippocampal optogenetic stimulation of pyramidal neurons, which results in different seizure types
Rotation Research
Learned whole-cell patch clamp recording techniques in Felix Schweizer’s laboratory
Learned 2-photon microscopy techniques in Joshua Trachtenberg’s laboratory
NEUROSCIENCE PHD STUDENT AND DOCTORAL CANDIDATE AT UCLA
2012-2018
Research advisor: Sotiris C. Masmanidis
Assembled and used slice electrophysiology and optogenetics setup to test Ai32 ChR2 mouse line
Piloted a novel 1D head-fixed VR CPP test for use with natural and drug rewards, as well as developed an odor preference paradigm for head-fixed mice that uses pupillometry to test for learned associations and arousal based on cocaine-odor conditioning
Performed striatal retrograde tracing studies to inform novel electrode array design
Used custom 512 channel multiregion extracellular silicon probes to simultaneously record prefrontal cortex and ventral striatum in vivo, demonstrating that proportion of frontostriatal inhibition and degree of gamma coherence correlates to drug-cue induced behavioral arousal
Developed new code toolkits to assess critical neural dynamics in vivo with custom silicon nanoprobe arrays as well as a novel method to quantify critical tuning in the cortex, showing criticality is enhanced in early cocaine abstinence and predicts cue-induced behavioral arousal, and that the system complexity in the cortex and striatum is decoupled from criticality during early abstinence but is coupled in drug-naïve mice
POSTDOCTORAL RESEARCHER
2018-Present
Research advisor: Mayank Mehta
Continued work at UCLA to further the usage of silicon probes in chronic settings. More to come!
EDUCATION
Places that gave me papers with fancy scripts
THE UNIVERSITY OF IOWA
2006 - 2010
Graduated with Honors, BS in Biology
Minor in Japanese. もちろん、日本語ができるよ！
UCLA, NEUROSCIENCE PHD PROGRAM
2010 - 2018
Graduated with two first author papers, and pioneered the usage of UCLA's own NeuroNex electrophsiology tools in the context of addiction, multiregion recordings, and information theory.
Taught Neuroscience 101A and 101B with high student ratings.
The hand of Man rested,
Draped on silken weave
Altered forms risen,
As crests to the sea
