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The Hinman lab is broadly interested in spatial cognition, memory, and how the brain represents space to navigate the world. They employ high-density electrophysiology and calcium imaging in freely behaving rats to record and image large populations of individual neurons across brain regions including the hippocampus, entorhinal cortex, retrosplenial cortex, and striatum as the rats engage in a variety of tasks. Their data allows them to identify the coding properties of individual neurons and investigate the structure of population coding, which is essential for understanding environments and social landscapes. A key area of investigation focuses on how the brain dynamically represents spatial locations in relation to conspecifics, particularly in social hierarchies, and how this influences behavior toward both familiar and stranger entities. The lab's research also incorporates genetic models of autism to explore neural representations and differences in social interactions.
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