Jai Bhagat

I'm interested in understanding and creating intelligent systems — systems that generate goal-directed output from received and intrinsic input. Using a variety of natural and human-made models, I create and test theories that explain intelligent behaviour. To aid this research, I also develop software, hardware, and experiment protocols to improve the collection and analysis of relevant data.

I grew up in Rose Valley, PA, USA and attended Strath Haven High School in Wallingford, PA before attending Boston University, where I received a B.A. in Neuroscience. I then went on to work as a Technical Associate in Matt Wilson's lab at MIT, primarily with Carmen Varela where I sought to understand the role of the thalamus in spatial navigation. During this time I also improved the fabrication of microdrive tetrode arrays for recording from the brain, and created deep and unsupervised learning tools for neural event detection and classification. I then came to London where I worked as a Software Developer in Matteo Carandini and Kenneth Harris' lab. During this time I developed a complete experiment control software toolbox (Rigbox) for running behavioral neuroscience experiments and managing experiment-related data, in addition to developing acquisition and analysis pipelines for the International Brain Lab, and analyzing data for the Neuropixels project.

Now as a Ph. D. student between Tiago Branco's and Tom Mrsic-Flogel's labs, I am working in a Centre-wide collaboration to perform continuous recordings of freely moving rodents during decision-making tasks in naturalistic environments.