Laboratory for Theoretical Neuroscience and Behavior
Understanding the dynamics of life
Kennedy lab at Scripps Research
From single neurons to social groups, biological systems integrate external cues with their own internal state to act on their surroundings in intricate feedback loops. As theoretical neuroscientists, we use mathematical modeling and model-informed analyses to understand how the organization of nervous systems relates to this function. We ask questions like:
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How can the brain modulate neuronal properties to control what a neural circuit computes?
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Why do neurons' physiological properties vary across and within cell types? Can this diversity be leveraged in computation?
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How do animals change their behavioral policies in response to their needs? What neural processes underlie this change?
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How are priors for "optimal" balancing of survival needs built into the structure of the brain?
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How do highly decentralized nerve nets carry out coordinated actions?
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How does activity of motor control systems account for the physics of body-environment interactions?
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How does the meso-scale structure of neural circuits reflect their computational function?
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How does evolution tune neural circuits to alter emergent species-level phenomena like social group structure?
Our work blends dynamical systems, control theory, reinforcement learning, and machine learning to investigate neural dynamics and behavior across multiple scales, brain regions, and model organisms. We value open science, clear communication, and creation of community resources. We collaborate enthusiastically with theorists and experimentalists in San Diego and beyond!
Lab News
Congratulations to Shotaro Takasu for receiving a postdoctoral Overseas Research Fellowship from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science!
Sept 2026
Congratulations to Caelen Hilty for receiving an NSF Graduate Research Fellowship for work on models of neuromodulation in striatum!
April 2026
Check out Ann's profile in the Stories of Women in Neuroscience podcast.
March 2026
Ann spoke about theoretical neuroscience for survival behaviors on the Brain Inspired podcast.
Sept 2025
The 2025 Multi-Agent Behavior Challenge is now live on Kaggle, and profiled in The Transmitter.
Sept 2025
Congratulations to Richard Gast for receiving the Thom Young Researcher Award from the International Symposium on Complex Systems!
May 2025
Ann received a 2024 McKnight Scholars Award and is named a 2024 Pew Scholar in the Biomedical Sciences.
June 2024
Ann named a 2023 Sloan Research Fellow.
Feb 2023
Ann received the 2022 Eppendorf and Science Prize in Neurobiology.
Nov 2022
Ann was profiled in The Transmitter for the lab's work on computational analysis of behavior.
July 2022