Akihiro Y
- Research Program Mentor
PhD at New York University
Expertise
physics, systems neuroscience, microscopy, neural correlates of behavior
Bio
I am a postdoctoral scientist at HHMI Janelia Research Campus developing advanced microscopy systems to study neural correlates of behavior in freely behaving animals. My research combines electro-optics design with computational modeling to track neural activity and animal movement in real-time. With a Ph.D. in physics from New York University, I’m especially excited by research that blends fundamental physics with tool-building to enable new biological discoveries. Outside the lab, I enjoy hiking, cycling, exploring museums and visit historical sites. Beyond personal hobbies, I’m involved in STEM outreach and enjoy sharing science with students and people outside the lab.Project ideas
Build a biophysical model of a neuron - Leaky Integrate-and-Fire
In this project, you will build a simple computational model of a neuron using the leaky integrate-and-fire (LIF) framework. This involves simulating how a neuron’s membrane voltage changes over time in response to input current, where the membrane “integrates” incoming signals but also “leaks” back toward its resting voltage. When the voltage crosses a threshold, the model generates a spike and resets, capturing the basic idea of neural firing in an intuitive way.
Building a Simple Animal Tracker from Smartphone Video
Scientists use artificial intelligence and machine learning to automatically track how animals move and behave from video. Instead of manually watching and measuring, computers can now identify key body parts (like a fish's head and tail, or a person's joints). In this project, you'll use state-of-the-art tools that researchers actually use in their labs with no coding experience required.