Dr. Yoram Burak - ELSC

Monday, Sep 22, 2014

The ancient Greek philosophers understood that nature’s most sophisticated wonders could be described entirely through the languages of mathematics and physics. Now ELSC researcher, Dr. Yoram Burak is proving it. Burak constructs theoretical models that address such questions as how the brain processes sensory information and produces short term memories. Using a high powered computer, Burak is currently documenting how the minute and constant motions of our eyes affect the brain’s interpretation of visual information.

“We already know a lot about the way the retina transmits information to the brain,” Burak said, “but if we can construct an exact mathematical model for how the brain actually performs that task, then we can make predictions about how the brain will behave in future situations,” he explains. Burak joined ELSC and the Racah Institute of Physics in 2012, having completed a postdoctoral fellowship at Harvard University.