Saskia de Vries, Ph.D.
Assistant Investigator
Saskia de Vries joined the Allen Institute in 2012 as a scientist in the neural coding team. With a background in systems neuroscience, she has studied visual processing in both vertebrate and invertebrate systems using a combination of physiological, computational, behavioral and molecular tools to parse how neural circuits process visual information and use that information to select appropriate behavior. Prior to joining the Allen Institute, de Vries was a postdoctoral scholar in the department of neurobiology at Stanford University, where she identified loom sensitive neurons in the optic lobe of the fruit fly and directly linked them to the fly's escape behavior. De Vries received a B.S. from Yale University in molecular biophysics and biochemistry and a Ph.D. in neurobiology from Harvard University.
Research
Research Interests
Research Interests My research interests are centered on how the brain transforms sensory information into perceptions and appropriate behaviors. Such transformations result from sophisticated computations that are carried out by individual neurons and their interactions within a larger circuit. I seek to understand the cellular and circuit mechanisms that underpin these computations. My research combines optical imaging with computational, behavioral and molecular tools to examine how individual cells function in the visual circuit.
Expertise
- Neural circuits
- Systems neuroscience
- Visual neuroscience
- Electrophysiology
Research Programs
- Neural coding
Selected Publications View on PUBMED
bioRxiv
June 29, 2018
de Vries S, Lecoq J, Buice MA, Groblewski PA, Ocker GK, Oliver M, Feng F, Cain N, Ledochowitsch P, Millman D, Roll K, Garrett M, Keenan T, Kuan L, Mihalas S, Olsen S, Thompson C, Wakeman W, Waters J, Williams D, Barber C, Berbesque N, Blanchard B, Bowles N, Caldejon S, Casal L, Cho A, Cross S, Dang C, Dolbeare T, Edwards M, Galbraith J, Gaudreault N, Griffin F, Hargrave P, Howard R, Huang L, Jewell S, Keller N, Knoblich U, Larkin J, Larsen R, Lau C, Lee E, Lee F, Leon A, Li L, Long F, Luviano J, Mace K, Nguyen T, Perkins J, Robertson M, Seid S, Shea-Brown E, Shi J, Sjoquist N, Slaughterbeck C, Sullivan D, Valenza R, White C, Williford A, Witten D, Zhuang J, Zeng H, Farrell C, Ng L, Bernard A, Phillips JW, R Reid C, Koch C
Visual physiology of the Layer 4 cortical circuit in silico
PLoS Computational Biology
November 12, 2018
Arkhipov A, Gouwens NW, Billeh YN, Gratiy S, Iyer R, Wei Z, Xu Z, Berg J, Buice M, Cain N, da Costa N, de Vries S, Denman D, Durand S, Feng D, Jarsky T, Lecoq J, Lee B, Li L, Mihalas S, Ocker GK, Olsen SR, Reid RC, Soler-LLavina G, Sorensen SA, Wang Q, Waters J, Scanziani M, Koch C
Optogenetic stimulation of escape behavior in Drosophila melanogaster
Journal of Visualized Experiments
January 2013
de Vries SEJ & Clandinin TR
Loom-sensitive neurons link computation to action in the Drosophila visual system
Current Biology
March 2012
de Vries SEJ & Clandinin TR
The projective field of a retinal amacrine cell
Journal of Neuroscience
June 2011
de Vries SEJ, Baccus SA, Meister M
Retinal ganglion cells can rapidly change polarity from Off to On
PLoS Biology
March 2007
Geffen MN, de Vries SEJ, Meister M