Dr. Leopoldo Petreanu is a Principal Investigator at the Champalimaud Center for the Unknown where he leads a Cortical Circuits Lab.

Dr. Petreanu is interested in the principles of inter- and intra-cortical connectivity.

He levels an appropriately multi-pronged attack on this fundamental problem. For example, to better understand cortical feedback, he studied visual cortex and the functional organization therein. While when looking at the long-range circuits, he chose to look at the sensory and motor cortices. Aside from effortlessly switching between preparations and nailing complex techniques, his lab also develops novel behavioral tasks.

In this episode, we discuss

--> what Dr. Petreanu learnt from Karel Svoboda

--> why not having quantitative skills early on is not a handicap

--> which argument for the unity of cortical computation he finds the most compelling