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Neuroscientist studying memory, decision-making, and neural coordination

Garrett Blair is a postdoctoral fellow at NYU’s Center for Neural Science working with Dr. André Fenton. He received a B.S. in Cognitive Science and a B.A. in Spanish Literature from UC Irvine in 2015. He then earned his PhD in Psychology from UCLA (2021) working with Dr. Tad Blair, where he pioneered calcium imaging applications in hippocampus (Blair et al. eLife 2023; Guo, Blair et al. Sci. Adv. 2023) and anterior cingulate cortex (Hart, Blair et al. JNeuro. 2020) of freely behaving rats to study learning, memory, and decision-making.

During postdoctoral research, Garrett studies how the hippocampus and cingulate cortex collectively represent task-relevant information by recording from both regions during spatial navigation tasks. Current research is supported by my NIH F32 NRSA fellowship. Outside the lab, Garrett enjoys cooking with his wife, exploring New York on walks with their dog, video games, hip-hop, and sci-fi.

Recent Work

Cambeidge Neuro link

Cambridge NeuroTech Webinar

Featured webinar on my dual-site miniscope recording technique in rats and what this teaches us about spatial representations in hippocampus and cingulate cortex.

MiniLFOV scope

MiniLFOV scope

Guo, Blair et al. (2023) “Miniscope-LFOV: large-scale imaging of neural dynamics in freely behaving animals.”

Publications

* denotes equal co-authorship

(2023) GJ Blair et al. "Hippocampal place cell remapping occurs with memory storage of aversive experiences" eLife. doi:10.7554/eLife.80661

(2023) C Guo*, GJ Blair*, et al. "Miniscope-LFOV: A large-field-of-view, single-cell-resolution, miniature microscope for wired and wire-free imaging of neural dynamics in freely behaving animals" Science Advances. doi:10.1126/sciadv.adg3918

(2023) Z Chen, GJ Blair, et al. "A hardware system for real-time decoding of in vivo calcium imaging data" eLife. doi:10.7554/eLife.78344

(2020) Z Chen, GJ Blair, HT Blair, and J Cong. "BLINK: Bit-Sparse LSTM Inference Kernel Enabling Efficient Calcium Trace Extraction for Neurofeedback Devices" Proceedings of the ACM/IEEE. doi:10.1145/3370748.3406552

(2020) PJ Schuette et al. "Long-Term Characterization of Hippocampal Remapping during Contextual Fear Acquisition and Extinction" Journal of Neuroscience. doi:10.1523/jneurosci.1022-20.2020

(2020) EE Hart*, GJ Blair*, et al. "Chemogenetic Modulation and Single-Photon Calcium Imaging in Anterior Cingulate Cortex Reveal a Mechanism for Effort-Based Decisions" Journal of Neuroscience. doi:10.1523/jneurosci.2548-19.2020

(2015) GJ Blair, et al. "Disc Size Supports Top-Down, Selective Attention in a Task Requiring Integration across Multiple Target" Journal of Vision. doi:10.1167/15.12.897

Google Scholar   |   ORCiD

Presentations

  • (SfN 2025) “Coordinated cognitive control signals in dorsal hippocampal and anterior cingulate representations during navigation” San Diego, CA.
  • (SfN 2024) “Dynamic coordination of spatial representations in hippocampus and anterior cingulate cortex ensemble activity during cognitive control” Chicago, IL.
  • (SfN 2023) “Place representations and cognitive control in dorsal hippocampus and cingulate cortex ensemble activity” Washington, DC.
  • (SfN 2022) “Disruption of place cell remapping by scopolamine during aversive learning” San Diego, CA.

Resources

1. Data Repository

  • Dryad repository: Data supporting our 2023 paper on hippocampal changes during aversive learning and extinction.

2. Useful Links

3. Neuroscience Outreach

Society for Neuroscience | NYU Neuro | UCLA Psych in Action | Knowing Neurons | SfN BraiNY | BioBus