Indira M. Raman

Raman has made neurophysiological discoveries that help explain how information is coded in the mammalian cerebellum. In research building from the biophysical to the systems level, she identified ionic mechanisms underlying rapid firing in Purkinje cells and their targets, including co-discovering resurgent sodium current; she identified specializations of Purkinje-to-target cell synapses that permit depression-resistant synaptic transmission, provide inhibitory control of long-term excitatory synaptic plasticity, and produce sex differences in basal physiology; and, working in vitro and in awake behaving mice, she demonstrated that the synchrony of Purkinje spikes can be a key variable determining cerebellar output and regulating movements.