Dr. Matthew Smith

Biography

Matt Smith’s core interest lies in understanding the brain’s mechanisms for interpreting visual inputs and generating motor outputs. His work merges computational approaches and electrophysiology to understand how groups of neurons give rise to visual perception, cognition, and action. As a professor in Biomedical Engineering at the Carnegie Mellon Neuroscience Institute, he has received multiple grants including the NIH K99/R00 Pathway Independent Award and the Research to Prevent Blindness Career Development Award. His research investigates how visual information impacts decision-making, planning, and memory. The neuronal basis for constructing internal representations of external visual scenes remains largely unknown. Smith's laboratory aims to understand how groups of neurons interact to construct visual perceptions of the world and how these perceptions service cognition and motor outputs. He employs a range of methodologies, combining computational and experimental techniques to understand brain functions in both normal and disease states, and pays particular attention to bridging various scales of neural engineering.

Research Interests

Awards