Selmaan Chettih, PhD
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Selmaan Chettih, PhD
We study the neural basis of memory in food-caching birds.
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Biography
The Chettih lab studies the neural mechanisms underlying naturalistic and dynamic cognition. We focus on the remarkable memory of food-caching birds, like black-capped chickadees who remember the location of thousands of individual food items hidden throughout their territory. We develop novel tools for systems neuroscience in the chickadee including optical, electrophysiological, behavioral and computational methods.
Last Updated on August 02, 2026.
Departments & Organizations
- Center for Neuroethology & Physiological Plasticity
- Interdepartmental Neuroscience Program
- Neuroscience Track
- Yale Combined Program in the Biological and Biomedical Sciences (BBS)
Education & Training
- Postdoc
- Columbia (2026)
- PhD
- Harvard University, Neuroscience
- BA
- Swarthmore College (2010)
Research
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Overview
Medical Research Interests
Memory; Neurosciences
ORCID
0000-0003-2045-3747Selmaan Chettih
We study the neural mechanisms of memory, with chickadees as the primary model.
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Research at a Glance
Yale Co-Authors
Frequent collaborators of Selmaan Chettih's published research.
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Research topics Selmaan Chettih is interested in exploring.
Samuel David McDougle, PhD
Memory
Neurosciences
Publications
2026
Barcode activity in a recurrent network model of the hippocampus enables efficient memory binding
Fang C, Lindsey JW, Abbott LF, Aronov D, Chettih SN. Barcode activity in a recurrent network model of the hippocampus enables efficient memory binding. ELife 2026, 14: RP103512. DOI: 10.7554/eLife.103512.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchBarcode activity in a recurrent network model of the hippocampus enables efficient memory binding
Fang C, Lindsey JW, Abbott LF, Aronov D, Chettih SN. Barcode activity in a recurrent network model of the hippocampus enables efficient memory binding. ELife 2026, 14: RP103512. DOI: 10.7554/eLife.103512.3.Peer-Reviewed Original Research
2024
Barcoding of episodic memories in the hippocampus of a food-caching bird
Chettih S, Mackevicius E, Hale S, Aronov D. Barcoding of episodic memories in the hippocampus of a food-caching bird. Cell 2024, 187: 1922-1935.e20. PMID: 38554707, PMCID: PMC11015962, DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2024.02.032.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchCitationsAltmetricMeSH Keywords and ConceptsThe influence of cortical activity on perception depends on behavioral state and sensory context
Russell L, Fişek M, Yang Z, Tan L, Packer A, Dalgleish H, Chettih S, Harvey C, Häusser M. The influence of cortical activity on perception depends on behavioral state and sensory context. Nature Communications 2024, 15: 2456. PMID: 38503769, PMCID: PMC10951313, DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-46484-5.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchCitationsAltmetricMeSH Keywords and ConceptsConceptsCortical activityBehavioral statesVisual stimuliVisual detection taskPrimary visual cortexNeural circuit activityHigh-contrast stimuliLow-contrast stimuliVisual stimulus contrastNeuronal activityCircuit activityRouting of informationBehavioral changesSensory contextDetection taskMiceNeuronsStimuliVisual cortexArtificial perceptionCortexStimulus contrastTaskLocal networkPhotostimulation
2022
Shared and specialized coding across posterior cortical areas for dynamic navigation decisions
Tseng S, Chettih S, Arlt C, Barroso-Luque R, Harvey C. Shared and specialized coding across posterior cortical areas for dynamic navigation decisions. Neuron 2022, 110: 2484-2502.e16. PMID: 35679861, PMCID: PMC9357051, DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2022.05.012.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchCitationsAltmetricMeSH Keywords and ConceptsConceptsNavigation decisionsHigh-dimensional representationsEncoding of taskPosterior cortexMouse posterior cortexCortical areasNavigation taskPosterior cortical areasGoal locationInformation modalitiesVirtual navigation taskFunctional organizationOrganization of cortexState representationFunctional organization of cortexParietal cortexEncodingCortexVisual cuesBehavioral variablesEver-changing environmentTaskRepresentationChoice formatSpatial position
2021
Geometric deep learning enables 3D kinematic profiling across species and environments
Dunn T, Marshall J, Severson K, Aldarondo D, Hildebrand D, Chettih S, Wang W, Gellis A, Carlson D, Aronov D, Freiwald W, Wang F, Ölveczky B. Geometric deep learning enables 3D kinematic profiling across species and environments. Nature Methods 2021, 18: 564-573. PMID: 33875887, PMCID: PMC8530226, DOI: 10.1038/s41592-021-01106-6.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchCitationsAltmetricMeSH Keywords and ConceptsScaling of sensory information in large neural populations shows signatures of information-limiting correlations
Kafashan M, Jaffe A, Chettih S, Nogueira R, Arandia-Romero I, Harvey C, Moreno-Bote R, Drugowitsch J. Scaling of sensory information in large neural populations shows signatures of information-limiting correlations. Nature Communications 2021, 12: 473. PMID: 33473113, PMCID: PMC7817840, DOI: 10.1038/s41467-020-20722-y.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchCitationsAltmetricMeSH Keywords and ConceptsConceptsPrimary visual cortexMouse primary visual cortexVisual cortexNeural populationsVisual stimulus directionSensory informationNeural codingInformation-limiting correlationsInformation-limitedNoise correlationsInformationNeuronal populationsCodeNoiseBrain areasInformation ScaleStimulus directionVisual stimuli
2019
Voltage imaging and optogenetics reveal behaviour-dependent changes in hippocampal dynamics
Adam Y, Kim J, Lou S, Zhao Y, Xie M, Brinks D, Wu H, Mostajo-Radji M, Kheifets S, Parot V, Chettih S, Williams K, Gmeiner B, Farhi S, Madisen L, Buchanan E, Kinsella I, Zhou D, Paninski L, Harvey C, Zeng H, Arlotta P, Campbell R, Cohen A. Voltage imaging and optogenetics reveal behaviour-dependent changes in hippocampal dynamics. Nature 2019, 569: 413-417. PMID: 31043747, PMCID: PMC6613938, DOI: 10.1038/s41586-019-1166-7.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchCitationsAltmetricMeSH Keywords and ConceptsConceptsPatch-clamp recordingsPost-synaptic potentialsBack-propagating action potentialsSimultaneous in vivo recordingsBrain slicesAction potentialsInhibitory post-synaptic potentialsInhibitory synaptic inputsAcute brain slicesNeuronal activity in vivoExplorations of network dynamicsBehaviourally dependent changesElectrical stimulationRecording membrane potentialGlomerular layerNeuronal excitabilityAction potential delayAcute slicesOlfactory bulbSynaptic potentialsSynaptic inputsCA1 regionActivity in vivoVoltage indicatorsAnaesthetized miceHNCcorr: A Novel Combinatorial Approach for Cell Identification in Calcium-Imaging Movies
Spaen Q, Asín-Achá R, Chettih S, Minderer M, Harvey C, Hochbaum D. HNCcorr: A Novel Combinatorial Approach for Cell Identification in Calcium-Imaging Movies. ENeuro 2019, 6: eneuro.0304-18.2019. PMID: 31058211, PMCID: PMC6498417, DOI: 10.1523/eneuro.0304-18.2019.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchCitationsAltmetricMeSH Keywords and ConceptsSingle-neuron perturbations reveal feature-specific competition in V1
Chettih S, Harvey C. Single-neuron perturbations reveal feature-specific competition in V1. Nature 2019, 567: 334-340. PMID: 30842660, PMCID: PMC6682407, DOI: 10.1038/s41586-019-0997-6.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchCitationsAltmetricMeSH Keywords and ConceptsConceptsTwo-photon optogeneticsPrimary visual cortexLocal neural populationsNeural populationsVisual cortexNeuronal influenceAwake miceLayer 2/3Influence mapAnatomical connectionsFeature competitionV1Excitatory neuronsPerturbationCalcium imagingAction potentialsPopulation activityCortical neuronsComputerNeuronsAnatomical spaceCortical layersNeural activitySensory representationsLayer
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