Postdoctoral Associate

Norman Lam

Norman joined the lab as a Postdoctoral Associate to work with Mike, interested in the thalamocortical neural circuitry underlying decision-making and cognitive flexibility. Currently he is studying cell type specific neural pathways between the mediodorsal thalamus and the prefrontal cortex involved in decision making under uncertainty. He uses a mixture of data analysis and modelling methods to provide insight and bridge the gap to neural and behavioral data. Norman did his PhD with Prof. John Murray at Yale University. Using analytical and computational models, Norman studied the role of inhibitory interneurons to circuit motif and computation for decision making and attention, and the effect of disease-motivated perturbations. Overall, he is ultimately interested in elucidating the interactions between association cortical areas, the thalamus, and other subcortical areas in relation to cognitive flexibility. Outside the lab, Norman enjoys poetry and has recently reignited his interest in jogging along Charles river.