Skirmantas Janusonis

Biography

Skirmantas Janusonis received his B.S./M.S. in Biology (with an emphasis in Biophysics) from Vilnius University and his Ph.D. in Neuroscience & Behavior from the University of Massachusetts Amherst. He completed his postdoctoral training at the Department of Neuroscience of the Yale University School of Medicine. In 2006, he joined the faculty of the University of California, Santa Barbara. His research has been funded by the National Science Foundation, the National Institute of Mental Health, and the California NanoSystems Institute. He is a faculty member of the UCSB Neuroscience Research Institute and Interdepartmental Graduate Program in Dynamical Neuroscience.

Research

Dr. Janusonis leads an interdisciplinary research program that investigates the dynamics and self-organization of strongly stochastic axons. These axons move though the brain in random walk-like trajectories and are a core component of biological neural networks, from cartilaginous fish to mammals (including humans). A special focus of this research is the serotonergic matrix, a massive but enigmatic axonal meshwork that controls perception and neuroplasticity. Experimental approaches are based on transgenic animal models, advanced microscopy techniques, neuronal cell cultures, and comparative neurobiology. The research has a strong computational neuroscience component, with collaborations with multiparticle physicists and mathematicians in the field of stochastic processes.