Draco Xu

I am Draco(Yunlong) Xu, I am a second-year PhD student in the Computational Neuroscience(CNS) program at the University of Chicago, advised by Prof. Brent Doiron. I am also collaborating with Prof. Marlene Cohen's lab, Prof. David J. Freedman's Lab, and Prof. Wei Wei's lab.

Before moving to Chicago, I was an undergraduate student at the University of Rochester, where I received two honors B.S. degrees in Computer Science and Mathematics, and a minor in Philosophy. I was advised by Prof. Fatemeh Nargesian(working on database and data management), Prof. Duje Tadin(Brain and Cognitive Sciences), Prof. Alex Iosevich(Applied Math), and Prof. Alison Peterman(Philosophy) at Rochester. I was affiliated with the CogT Lab at Stanford University, advised by Prof. Vankee Lin and Prof. Ehsan Adeli, and the CCNN Lab at SJTU, advised by Prof. Ruyuan Zhang. I also served as the chair of the University of Rochester ACM Student Chapter.

I was also an undergraduate student at Fudan University(2018-2021), majoring in Mathematics and Applied Mathematics.

Please drop me an email if you want to chat.

Research Interests: Computational Neuroscience; Philosophy of Perception; Data Science for neuroscience

My research aims to decipher the mechanisms of perceptual experience in intelligent systems. This quest begins with an exploration of how humans, as conscious and intelligent beings, process and form conscious experiences of perception, cognition and reasoning through our neural systems. This intricate process allows us not only to feel and think but also to be aware of our thoughts and feelings. I propose that the human brain is a prime example of such a system, yet it is not the sole example. If Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) is successfully developed, it would represent another potential form of an intelligent and possibly conscious system. A fundamental question in my research is whether these systems can genuinely experience perception or consciousness.

I am keen to explore whether, how, and why intelligent systems, including humans and AGI, can possess perceptual and phenomenological experiences. Is it possible to develop a scientific and computational model to explain these phenomena? The implications of such understanding are vast, extending even to concepts like mind uploading, often featured in science fiction.

To unravel these mysteries, we must delve into the general principles of perception, reasoning, learning, cognition, and consciousness. Understanding how these are implemented the brain is a crucial first step on this ambitious journey. I am dedicated to pushing us forward on this journey.

Ongoing or Recent Research Projects:

Interleaving Asynchronous and Synchronous Activity in Balanced Cortical Networks with Short-Term Synaptic Depression

Jeffrey B. Dunworth*(UMich), Yunlong (Draco) Xu*, Michael Graupner(Paris V), Bard Ermentrout(UPittsburg), Alex D. Reyes(NYU), & Brent Doiron(UChicago)

This project investigates how cortical populations alternate between asynchronous states and brief epochs of coordinated activity, a dynamic not well explained by existing models. By combining rate-based dynamical system analysis with biologically realistic spiking neuron models that incorporate short-term synaptic depression and balanced recurrent inhibition, the study captures the nonlinear population-wide activity observed in in vitro data, including low-frequency rhythmic dynamics. These findings provide a mechanistic theory that extends traditional balanced network models to better account for realistic cortical activity.

Presentation: Talk at SFN 2024, Rising Stars in Neuroscience 2025

Paper Status: In Press, Nature Communication, BioRxiv [link]

How Attentional Coordinated Modulations Enable Flexible Use of Visual Information via Rotation in Representation Space

In collaboration with: Ramanujan Srinath(UChicago) and Marlene R. Cohen(UChicago)

This project integrates experimental data with biologically plausible computational models of cortical circuits to explain how correlated variability relates to flexible behavior. The core computational approach uses networks of spiking neurons with structured connectivity reflecting known tuning properties in visual cortex. By adjusting top-down “control signals” to particular subsets of these neurons, the models test whether aligning certain stimulus-driven response patterns with the low-dimensional axis of correlated variability can enhance the information conveyed to downstream decoders.

Mechanistic Model for Noise Resilience in Retina via Disinhibition Circuits and Neural Modulation

In collaboration with: Wei Wei (UChicago)

Cortical Correlations with Movement and Decision Variables Have Both Cortical and Thalamic Origins

In collaboration with: Peijia Yu(UChicago) and Na Ji(UC Berkeley)

This study investigates the relationship between face motion and neural activity in the primary visual cortex (V1) and its lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN) afferents using two-photon imaging in mice. Results show a robust correlation between face motion and V1 neuronal activity, particularly during visually evoked periods, while LGN boutons are mostly silent during non-evoked intervals but exhibit significant correlations with face motion during visual stimulation. These findings suggest that the encoding of face motion in V1 during visual stimulation is primarily driven by bottom-up LGN inputs rather than top-down cortical inputs, offering new insights into the circuit mechanisms linking non-visual behavioral variables to cortical activity.

Paper Status: In preparation, Coming Soon

News:

2025/03/21: I will be attending OIST Computational Neuroscience Course this summer. See you in Okinawa, Japan.

2025/03/18: My co-first author paper "Interleaving asynchronous and synchronous activity in balanced cortical networks with short term synaptic depression" is out online at BioRxiv now. [link]

2025/01/1: I will be attending Cosyne 2025 in Montreal. Please check out my co-authored poster "Quantification of nonsense-free correlation uncovers the interaction between top-down and bottom-up sources of behavioral correlation in mouse V1".

2024/10/07: I will be attending SFN 2024, and will give a talk on our research " Interleaving asynchronous and synchronous activity in balanced cortical networks with short term synaptic depression". Please come and take a look!

MCP Room N427 | NANO36 | 10/7/2024 1:15:00 PM- 10/7/2024 1:30:00 PM

2024/05/21: I will be attending The 2024 ABC Summer School “Neuro-AI: Harnessing AI to understand computation in mind and brain”. See you guys in Amsterdam, Netherlands.

2024/03/18: I officially joined Prof. Brent Doiron's Lab for my Phd!

2024/01/04: I am starting my second rotation in Prof. Wei Wei's lab. Prepared to learn short term synactic depression in retina!

2023/12/14: I have successfully finished my rotation presetation in Prof. Brent Doiron's Lab! Just received an offer which I have committed. Finally found a home for my Phd~

2023/09/28: I am starting my first rotation in Prof. Brent Doiron's Lab. Excited to work on balanced cortical networks.

2023/08/23: I am presenting RuleMatch: Matching Abstract Rules for Semi-supervised Learning of Human Standard Intelligence Tests at IJCAI 2023. Come take a look!

2023/07/01: I will be attending European Summer School in Sensory Neuroscience. See you guys in Pisa, Italy.

2023/06/10: I will be attending Mathematical Methods in Computational Neuroscience. See you guys in Eresfjord, Norway.

2023/05/15: I will be attending Nengo summer school on large-scale brain modelling and neuromorphic computing. See you guys in Waterloo, Canada.

2023/04/27: I have been awarded a scholarship to the 12th Annual Aquinas Philosophy Workshop on Evil. See you guys in Newburgh, NY.

2023/04/19: One paper was accepted in IJCAI. Looking forward to seeing you in Macau this summer!

2023/04/15: Thrilled to announce I'll be joining UChicago as a Ph.D. student in Computational Neuroscience (CNS) program!

2023/03/28: I have been selected as a featured researcher by the office of undergraduate research at the University of Rochester.

2023/02/28: I gave a talk at the School of Mathematical Sciences (my home department before) at Fudan University. It's nice to be back home.

2022/12/15: I was awarded the Honorable Mention for CRA Outstanding Undergraduate Researchers by CRA.