Ashok Litwin-Kumar, PhD

Ashok Litwin-Kumar, PhD

Research Interest

Theoretical Neuroscience
Systems and Circuits
Neurobiology of Learning and Memory

Research Summary

I am an assistant professor in the Department of Neuroscience and a member of the Center for Theoretical Neuroscience and the Zuckerman Institute. Research in my group focuses on learning algorithms and their neural implementations. How do organisms use their past experiences to adapt their current behavior? How do these neural algorithms compare to those studied in machine learning and artificial intelligence? We approach these questions by working closely with experimental collaborators and building well-constrained models of learning and synaptic plasticity.

F. Li, J. W. Lindsey, E. C. Marin, N. Otto, M. Dreher, G. Dempsey, I. Stark, A. S. Bates, M. W. Pleijzier, P. Schlegel, A. Nern, S. Takemura, N. Eckstein, T. Yang, A. Francis, A. Braun, R. Parekh, M. Costa, L. K. Scheffer, Y. Aso, G. S. X. E. Jefferis, L. F. Abbott, A. Litwin-Kumar, S. Waddell & G. M. Rubin (2020). The connectome of the adult Drosophila mushroom body provides insights into function. eLife 9, e62576.

J. Lindsey & A. Litwin-Kumar (2020). Learning to learn with feedback and local plasticity. Advances in Neural Information Processing Systems 33, 21213–21223.

Z. Wu, A. Litwin-Kumar, P. Shamash, A. Taylor, R. Axel & M. N. Shadlen (2020). Context-dependent decision making in a premotor circuit. Neuron 106(2), 316–328.

C. Eschbach, A. Fushiki, M. Winding, C. M. Schneider-Mizell, M. Shao, R. Arruda, K. Eichler, J. Valdes-Aleman, T. Ohyama, A. S. Thum, B. Gerber, R. D. Fetter, J. W. Truman, A. Litwin-Kumar, A. Cardona & M. Zlatic (2020). Recurrent architecture for adaptive regulation of learning in the insect brain. Nature Neuroscience 23, 544–555.

A. A. Zarin, B. Mark, A. Cardona, A. Litwin-Kumar & C. Q. Doe (2019). A multilayer circuit architecture for the generation of distinct motor behaviors in Drosophila. eLife 8, e51781.

K. Eichler, F. Li, A. Litwin-Kumar, Y. Park, I. Andrade, C. M. Schneider-Mizell, T. Saumweber, A. Huser, C. Eschbach, B. Gerber, R. D. Fetter, J. W. Truman, C. E. Priebe, L. F. Abbott, A. S. Thum, M. Zlatic & A. Cardona (2017). The complete connectome of a learning and memory centre in an insect brain. Nature 548(7666), 175–182.

A. Litwin-Kumar, K. D. Harris, R. Axel, H. Sompolinsky & L. F. Abbott (2017). Optimal degrees of synaptic connectivity. Neuron 93(5), 1153–1164.

A. Litwin-Kumar, R. Rosenbaum & B. Doiron (2016). Inhibitory stabilization and visual coding in cortical circuits with multiple interneuron subtypes. Journal of Neurophysiology 115(3), 1399–1409.

A. Litwin-Kumar & B. Doiron (2014). Formation and maintenance of neuronal assemblies through synaptic plasticity. Nature Communications 5(5319).

A. Litwin-Kumar & B. Doiron (2012). Slow dynamics and high variability in balanced cortical networks with clustered connections. Nature Neuroscience 15(11), 1498–1505.

  • Bystander Intervention Training, January 2024 (Columbia Sexual Violence Response Office)