{"682974":{"#nid":"682974","#data":{"type":"event","title":"Breakfast Club Seminar","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cbr\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.najafilab.org\/research\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EFarzaneh Najafi\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr\u003EAssistant Professor\u003Cbr\u003ESchool of Biological Sciences\u003Cbr\u003EGeorgia Tech\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAbstract\u003C\/strong\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003Cbr\u003EHow does the brain generate and refine predictions to guide behavior? Although both the cerebellum and neocortex have been independently linked to predictive processing, their interaction remains poorly understood. Understanding this coordination is essential for uncovering how distributed brain networks support flexible motor and cognitive functions, and how their dysfunction contributes to disorders such as ataxia and autism.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn this talk, I will share emerging work from my lab at Georgia Institute of Technology that begins to address this gap. Using a set of temporally structured behavioral paradigms in mice, ranging from passive to active perception to self and externally timed movements, we combine two-photon calcium imaging, circuit-targeted optogenetics, and computational work to study predictive dynamics in the cerebellum and parietal cortex. Early results suggest that temporal information in the parietal cortex may be modulated by cerebellar output, particularly during active behaviors. Specific neuronal subtypes, such as VIP interneurons, appear to play distinct roles in shaping prediction-related signals.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThese findings motivate a broader framework for cerebello-cortical mutual interaction during predictive processing. I will outline our long-term vision to uncover the circuit mechanisms and computational principles that govern this interaction, and discuss how this work could reshape our understanding of large-scale brain function across health and disease.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EBio\u003C\/strong\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003Cbr\u003EFarzaneh Najafi studied Biotechnology (integrated BSc\/MSc\/PhD program) at the University of Tehran. After completing a master\u2019s degree, in 2007, she moved to the US to pursue a PhD at the University of Pennsylvania. Her doctoral work focused on cerebellar mechanisms underlying motor adaptation in Javier Medina\u2019s lab, and in collaboration with Sam Wang\u2019s lab at Princeton University.\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn 2014, she joined Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory as a postdoctoral fellow in Anne Churchland\u2019s lab, investigating parietal cortex circuits underlying cognitive behavior. She then joined the Allen Institute for Brain Science in 2019 to study the neural circuits of visually guided behavior using a team-science approach.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESince January 2023, she has been an Assistant Professor at the Georgia Institute of Technology, School of Biological Sciences, where her lab investigates the circuits and computations underlying predictive processing in the brain.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHer research has been recognized with multiple awards from the Whitehall Foundation, the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, and Research Corporation for Science Advancement (Scialog).\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EThe IBB Breakfast Club Seminar Series was started with the spirit of the Institute\u0027s interdisciplinary mission in mind to feature local IBB faculty member\u0027s research in a seminar format. Faculty are often asked to speak at other universities and conferences, but do not often present at their home institution - this seminar series is an attempt to close that gap. IBB Breakfast Club Seminars are open to anyone in the bio-community.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":"","format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Cerebellar\u2013Cortical Dynamics in Predictive Processing\u0022\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"\u0022Cerebellar\u2013Cortical Dynamics in Predictive Processing\u0022 Farzaneh Najafi - Georgia Tech"}],"uid":"35486","created_gmt":"2025-07-01 18:37:30","changed_gmt":"2025-08-05 19:38:11","author":"Christina Wessels","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","field_event_time":{"event_time_start":"2025-10-14T08:30:00-04:00","event_time_end":"2025-10-14T09:30:00-04:00","event_time_end_last":"2025-10-14T09:30:00-04:00","gmt_time_start":"2025-10-14 12:30:00","gmt_time_end":"2025-10-14 13:30:00","gmt_time_end_last":"2025-10-14 13:30:00","rrule":null,"timezone":"America\/New_York"},"location":"Petit Biotech Building (IBB), Suddath Seminar Room 1128, 315 Ferst Drive","extras":[],"groups":[{"id":"1292","name":"Parker H. Petit Institute for Bioengineering and Bioscience (IBB)"},{"id":"1254","name":"Wallace H. Coulter Dept. of Biomedical Engineering"}],"categories":[],"keywords":[{"id":"187423","name":"go-bio"},{"id":"189814","name":"go-researchevents"},{"id":"190100","name":"go-bio-breakfast"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[{"id":"1795","name":"Seminar\/Lecture\/Colloquium"}],"invited_audience":[{"id":"78761","name":"Faculty\/Staff"},{"id":"177814","name":"Postdoc"},{"id":"78771","name":"Public"},{"id":"174045","name":"Graduate students"},{"id":"78751","name":"Undergraduate students"}],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:connect@ibb.gatech.edu\u0022\u003EEvent inquiries\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}