David A. McCormick

The work of my laboratory has helped to reveal the mechanisms by which the brain generates rhythmic activity during normal states, such as sleep, and during pathological conditions, such as epilepsy. Our work has also helped to uncover the mechanisms by which these rhythms are abolished upon waking, and how this is controlled by the actions of neuromodulatory neurotransmitters. Recently, my laboratory has also documented the mechanisms by which the brain rapidly controls its own functional connectivity, as may be used during attention, allowing the cerebral cortex to perform flexible and context appropriate behavior. These studies help to provide critical cellular and network level detail to brain function and dysfunction, and how several of the most prominent and important neuromodulators may control brain state and activity. We work in between the molecular/cellular level and systems neuroscience and hope that our results will help those in the clinic.