Huriye Atilgan

Huriye obtained her Master and PhD in Auditory Neuroscience at UCL Ear Institute in London, under the supervision of Prof Jennifer Bizley. Her graduate research, funded by Action on Hearing Loss, UK, focused on how visual cues can be used to help people to hear better in situations when listening is difficult. She conducted human psychophysical investigations as well as electrophysiological and behavioural studies in anaesthetized and awake ferrets.

Huriye then worked with Prof Alex Kwan at Yale University. While at Kwan Lab, she was awarded the Kavli Postdoctoral Fellowship to explore the neural mechanism of value-based decision-making in the mice medial frontal cortex. By using optogenetic silencing techniques and novel fluorescent biosensors, she showed how animals exploit task structure knowledge in volatile environments.

As a Sir Henry Wellcome Fellow, she is now working with Dr Adam Packer and Dr Armin Lak to explore the functional role of the claustrum in mice. Her approach combines state-of-the-art methods including head-fixed instrumental behaviour, electrophysiological recordings, multiphoton recordings and computational models. She has a strong passion for large scale, pan-cortical communication and its role in higher cognitive function.