Professor Dr. Alexander Chubykin

Biography

Alexander Chubykin is an Associate Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at Purdue University. His research interests focus on neural circuits, specifically in the context of mouse vision, synaptic plasticity, optogenetics, and neurotechnology. He aims to understand how brain circuits perform computations and affect perception and behaviors. Chubykin is particularly interested in elucidating neuromodulatory systems that induce reward-dependent plasticity in neural circuits involved in visual perception. His multi-disciplinary approach integrates optogenetics and robotics to map neural circuits. He utilizes the mouse primary visual cortex (V1) as a model system, capitalizing on the ability to manipulate visual stimuli and perform in vivo recordings using a genetically tractable animal model. The combination of in vitro and in vivo electrophysiology with optogenetic tools provides a unique platform to dissect and manipulate specific circuits relevant to visual perception, as well as to study diseases impacting perception and neural circuit function, such as autism.

Research Interests