Main Projects

Current research directions

Project Drift

A hippocampal population code for rapid generalization

CA1 population activity uses a disentangled code for location, time, and choice, while CA3, MEC, and local PV-interneurons shape remapping and representational drift.

Status: Pre-print

• Conducted mouse behavioral tasks, Arduino coding, mouse optogenetic fiber surgery, perfusion, and imaging

• Individual mini project: investigated topological data analysis, high dimensionality reduction, and hippocampal neural manifold analysis in 1) familiar vs. unfamiliar tracks 2) and changes across long-term recording (~300 days using flexible probe)

Project Territory

A socio-spatial cognitive map of naturalistic environment

We study male mice in a semi-natural outdoor enclosure to understand how hippocampal place cell activity evolves during territory formation, defense, and intrusion.

Status: In prep / unpublished manuscript

• Performed Neuropixels silicon probe surgeries and executed naturalistic outdoor behavioral tasks (territory competition) using wireless neuro-datalogger setups

• Designed 3D-printed headstages and involved in building automated pipelines for multi-animal identity tracking, combining mouse trajectory and IMU data with PCB/CE32 console recordings

• Analyzed high-dimensional neural population dynamics, performing spike sorting, DeepLabCut, Yolo, sharp- wave ripple detection, analyzing cell metrics and unique place cell properties under different territories and behavioral tasks, and modeling theta sweeps and neural manifold topology

Project Fabrication

Long-term, large-scale neural recordings across memory circuits with high-density flexible probes

This work develops polymer-based flexible thin-film probes to reduce tissue-device mismatch and support stable long-term single-neuron tracking across memory circuits.

Status: In prep / unpublished manuscript

• Conducted large-scale hippocampal electrophysiological recordings in behaving mice across multiple environments, supporting experimental design with custom Arduino coding, DLC, perfusions, and imaging

• Extracted and analyzed neural population dynamics from high-dimensional electrophysiological data; analyzed place cell stability across ~300-day recording in the single-cell level by using spike sorting

Earlier Experience
Peking University

Molecular neuroscience work related to Huntington's disease

Before shifting more deeply into computational and systems neuroscience, I worked on Huntington's disease-related research using the CRISPR system in Dr. Chenjian Li's lab at Peking University.

Related publication: Yuanyi Dai et al., Self-inactivating AAV-CRISPR at different ages enables sustained amelioration of Huntington’s disease deficits in BAC226Q mice. Sci. Adv. 12, eaea8052 (2026). DOI:10.1126/sciadv.aea8052