Center for Relativistic Laser Science

◆ Educational Background

2007 Ph. D., School of Biological Sciences, Seoul National University

2002 B.S. Department of Biology Education, Seoul National University

◆ Professional Career

2018 - Present: Associate Professor, Department of Biological Sciences, KAIST.

2013 - 2018: Assistant Professor, Department of Biological Sciences, KAIST.

2009 - 2013: Postdoctoral Research Fellow, University of California, Berkeley / HHMI

2007 - 2009: Postdoctoral Research Fellow, School of Biological Sciences, Seoul National University.

◆ Contact

Tel: +82-42-350-2613 (Office) / +82-42-350-2653(Lab)
Email:shlee1@kaist.ac.kr 
https://sites.google.com/site/leelab2013/

[Research Areas]

How do we perceive the world? Inputs from the external world, i.e., sensory stimuli, need to be actively processed in the brain to be transformed into a "percept". Sensory processing (computation of sensory stimuli in the brain) is the gateway to sensory perception, and efficient sensory processing is required for the perceptual behavior of the animal. Switching from a drowsy, inattentive behavioral state to an aroused, attentive state is crucial for the effective perception of relevant sensory stimuli and execution of cognitively demanding tasks. How do our brain circuits execute this amazing function? We answer this question by studying the following topics in the mouse animal model:

- Modality-specific sensory processing

- Selective attention and modulation of perception

- Multisensory integration and cross-modal binding

- Perceptual decision and sensorimotor transformation

- Social perception

Our research aims to unravel brain circuits that are important for selective attention, multisensory integration, and behavioral decision, which are critical for cognitive and perceptual behaviors. Insights from our study should be broadly applicable to the treatment of psychiatric disorders including attention deficit disorder, autism, and schizophrenia.

◆ Publication List

1. Kim J, Ma DH, Jung E, CHoi I, Lee SH. (2021) Gated feedforward inhibition in the frontal cortex releases goal-directed action. Nature Neuroscience. 32(43):15053-65.

2. Song YH, Yoon JW, Lee SH. (2021) The role of neuropeptide somatostatin in the brain and its application in treating neurological disorders. Experimental & Molecular Medicine. 53: 328-338.

3. Song YH, Hwang YS, Kim K, Lee HR, Kim JH, Maclachlan C, Dubois A, Jung MW, Petersen CCH, Knott G, Lee SH, Lee SH. (2020) Somatostatin enhances visual processing and perception by suppressing excitatory inputs to parvalbumin-positive interneurons in V1. Science Advances. 6(17): DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.aaz0517.

4. Choi I, Lee JY, Lee SH. (2018) Bottom-up and top-down modulation of multisensory integration. Current Opinion in Neurobiology. 52:115-122.

5. Song YH, Kim JH, Jeong HW, Choi I, Jeong D, Kim K, Lee SH. (2017) A neural circuit for auditory dominance over visual perception. Neuron. 93: 940-954.

6. Kim J, Jung AH, Jeong D, Choi I, Kim K, Shin S, Kim SJ, Lee SH. (2016) Selectivity of neuromodulatory projections from the basal forebrain and locus coeruleus to primary sensory cortices. Journal of Neuroscience. 36(19):5314-5327.

I am currently working on the simulation and implementation of a new idea which significantly reduces coherent betatron oscillation (CBO) and muon losses in the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (FNAL) muon g-2 experiment (E989), and the precision tracking simulations for proton electric dipole moment (EDM) experiment at Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) and muon g-2/EDM experiment at Japan Proton Accelerator Research Complex (J-PARC). I am also involved in the development of a data acquisition system for the axion experiment in our group. I am interested in application of high performance computing for physics researches as well.