Matthew A. Wilson

Matthew A. Wilson

Sherman Fairchild Professor of Neuroscience and Picower Scholar; Associate Department Head for Education, Brain & Cognitive Sciences

Matthew Wilson studies rodent learning and memory by recording and manipulating the activity of neurons during behavior and sleep.

617-253-2046

Phone

46-5233

Office

mwilson@mit.edu

Email

Lab Website

Education

  • PhD, 1991, California Institute of Technology
  • BS, 1983, Electrical Engineering, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

Research Summary

Our laboratory studies the neural processes within the hippocampus and neocortex that enable memories to form and persist over time. We use a technique that allows us to simultaneously record the activity of hundreds of individual neurons across multiple brain regions in freely behaving animals. When combined with genetic, pharmacological and behavioral manipulations, these recordings allow us to gain a mechanistic understanding of how animals learn and remember.

Awards

  • American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Fellow, 2012

Recent Publications

  1. Artificial intelligence insights into hippocampal processing. Wirtshafter, HS, Wilson, MA. 2022. Front Comput Neurosci 16, 1044659.
    doi: 10.3389/fncom.2022.1044659PMID:36419939
  2. Reversal learning: It's just a phase. Varela, C, Wilson, MA. 2022. Curr Biol 32, R849-R851.
    doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2022.06.045PMID:35944488
  3. Lateral septum as a nexus for mood, motivation, and movement. Wirtshafter, HS, Wilson, MA. 2021. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 126, 544-559.
    doi: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2021.03.029PMID:33848512
  4. Dissociating Behavior and Spatial Working Memory Demands Using an H Maze. Wirtshafter, HS, Quan, M, Wilson, MA. 2021. Bio Protoc 11, e3947.
    doi: 10.21769/BioProtoc.3947PMID:33796621
  5. mPFC spindle cycles organize sparse thalamic activation and recently active CA1 cells during non-REM sleep. Varela, C, Wilson, MA. 2020. Elife 9, .
    doi: 10.7554/eLife.48881PMID:32525480
  6. Differences in reward biased spatial representations in the lateral septum and hippocampus. Wirtshafter, HS, Wilson, MA. 2020. Elife 9, .
    doi: 10.7554/eLife.55252PMID:32452763
  7. Locomotor and Hippocampal Processing Converge in the Lateral Septum. Wirtshafter, HS, Wilson, MA. 2019. Curr Biol 29, 3177-3192.e3.
    doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2019.07.089PMID:31543450
  8. Characteristics of CA1 place fields in a complex maze with multiple choice points. Tanila, H, Ku, S, Kloosterman, F, Wilson, MA. 2018. Hippocampus 28, 81-96.
    doi: 10.1002/hipo.22810PMID:29072798
  9. Oscillations, neural computations and learning during wake and sleep. Penagos, H, Varela, C, Wilson, MA. 2017. Curr Opin Neurobiol 44, 193-201.
    doi: 10.1016/j.conb.2017.05.009PMID:28570953
  10. Deciphering Neural Codes of Memory during Sleep. Chen, Z, Wilson, MA. 2017. Trends Neurosci 40, 260-275.
    doi: 10.1016/j.tins.2017.03.005PMID:28390699
More Publications

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Photo Credit: Patrick Gillooly