sihai-li / sihai-li.github.io

Sihai's personal github io page

Neuroscience researcher

Technical Skills: Python, MATLAB, In Vivo Electrophysiology

Education

• M.S., Computer Science | Georgia Institute of Technology (Jan 2020 - present)
• Ph.D., Neuroscience | Wake Forest School of Medicine (July 2015 - May 2020)
• B.S., Biological Science | Nanchang University (China) (Sep 2010 - June 2014)

Research Experience

Postdoctoral Scholar @ University of Chicago (Aug 2021 - Present)

• Implemented large-scale in vivo electrophysiology recording technique collecting data from multiple brain areas on awake non-human primates to elucidate the contributions of distinct brain areas in predictive coding
• Initiated and led a research project with collection in vivo neurophysiological data from awake nonhuman primates
• Inactivated specific brain areas via pharmacological methods
• Collaborated with computational neuroscientists to interpret neurophysiological data

Graduate Researcher @ Wake Forest School of Medicine (December 2020 - Present)

• Collected neurophysiological evidence from awake nonhuman primates to investigate the involvement of prefrontal and parietal cortex in working memory. Identified the correlation of neural activity fluctuations with behavioral deficits. Applied dimensionality reduction (PCA) and populational decoding (SVM) to illustrate representations of working memory information from neural activities
• Obtained in vivo electrophysiology to collect data from non-human primates
• Collaborated with team of physicians and technicians to acquire non-human primate MRI data
• Supervised and trained 5 research technicians and graduate students to start on hand nonhuman primate experiments
• Analyzed and interpreted neurophysiological data using MATLAB, Microsoft Access and Python
• Authored 5 publications on top-tier neuroscience journals

Publications

1. Dang, W., Li, S., Pu, S., Qi, X. L., & Constantinidis, C. (2022). More prominent non-linear mixed selectivity in the dorsolateral prefrontal than posterior parietal cortex. eNeuro, ENEURO.0517-21.2022.
2. Li, S., Constantinidis, C., & Qi, X. L. (2021). Drifts in Prefrontal and Parietal Neuronal Activity Influence Working Memory Judgments. Cereb Cortex, 31(8):3650-3664.
3. Li, S., Zhou, X., Constantinidis, C., & Qi, X. L. (2020). Plasticity of Persistent Activity and Its Constraints. Frontiers in neural circuits, 14, 15.
4. Barbosa, J., Stein, H., Martinez, R. L., Galan-Gadea, A., Li, S., Dalmau, J., Adam, K., Valls-Solé, J., Constantinidis, C., & Compte, A. (2020). Interplay between persistent activity and activity-silent dynamics in the prefrontal cortex underlies serial biases in working memory. Nature neuroscience, 23(8), 1016–1024.
5. Li, S., Qi, X. L. & Constantinidis, C. (2019). Neuronal activity in Prefrontal and Posterior Parietal Cortex Mediating Working Memory Judgments. Journal of Vision 2019;19(10):246b.
6. Zhou, X., Zhu, D., Qi, X. L., Li, S., King, S. G., Salinas, E., Stanford, T. R., & Constantinidis, C. (2016). Neural correlates of working memory development in adolescent primates. Nature communications, 7, 13423.
7. Tang, H., Luo, F., Li, S. H., & Li, B. M. (2016). Behavioral representation of cost and benefit balance in rats. Neuroscience letters, 632, 175–180.
8. Luo, F., Li, S. H., Tang, H., Deng, W. K., Zhang, Y., & Liu, Y. (2015). Phenylephrine enhances glutamate release in the medial prefrontal cortex through interaction with N-type Ca2+ channels and release machinery. Journal of neurochemistry, 132(1), 38–50.
9. Luo, F., Guo, N. N., Li, S. H., Tang, H., Liu, Y., & Zhang, Y. (2014). Reduction of glutamate release probability and the number of releasable vesicles are required for suppression of glutamatergic transmission by β1-adrenoceptors in the medial prefrontal cortex. Neuropharmacology, 83, 89–98.
10. Luo, F., Tang, H., Li, B. M., & Li, S. H. (2014). Activation of α₁-adrenoceptors enhances excitatory synaptic transmission via a pre- and postsynaptic protein kinase C-dependent mechanism in the medial prefrontal cortex of rats. The European journal of neuroscience, 39(8), 1281–1293.