Research
Interests
updated Mar. 13, 2023

People

Publications

Graduate Programs

Neuroscience
at Weill Cornell



Contact Information
Sheila Nirenberg
Department of Physiology
And Biophysics
Weill Medical College of
Cornell University
1300 York Avenue
New York, NY 10021

Office Phone: (212)746-6372
Lab phone:(212)746-5666
Fax: (212)746-8690
Email: shn2010@med.cornell.edu

Recent Publications

The light response of retinal ganglion cells is truncated by a displaced amacrine circuit.
S. Nirenberg and M. Meister.
Neuron 18:637-650 (1997). PDF

Population coding in the retina.
S. Nirenberg and P.E. Latham.
Curr. Opin. Neurobiol. 8(4):488-493 (1998). PDF

A novel signaling pathway from rod photoreceptors to ganglion cells in mammalian retina.
E.R. Soucy, Y. Wang, S. Nirenberg, J. Nathans, and M. Meister.
Neuron 21:481-493 (1998). PDF

Photoablation of cells expressing beta-galactosidase.
S. Nirenberg.
Methods Mol Biol. 135:475-80 (2000). PDF

Intrinsic dynamics in neuronal networks. I. Theory.
P.E. Latham, B.J. Richmond, P.G. Nelson, and S. Nirenberg.
J. Neurophysiol. 83(2):808-827 (2000). PDF

Intrinsic dynamics in neuronal networks. II. Experiment.
P.E. Latham, B.J. Richmond, S. Nirenberg, and P.G. Nelson.
J. Neurophysiol. 83(2):828-835 (2000). PDF

Retinal ganglion cells act largely as independent encoders.
S. Nirenberg, S.M. Carcieri, A.L. Jacobs, and P.E. Latham.
Nature 411:698-701 (2001). PDF
Supplementary information: PDF
Further discussion

Characterization of neuropeptide Y-expressing cells in the mouse retina using immunohistochemical and transgenic techniques.
J.R. Sinclair and S. Nirenberg.
J. Comp. Neurol. 4
32:296-306 (2001). PDF

Decoding neuronal spike trains: how important are correlations?
S. Nirenberg and P.E. Latham
Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. 100:7348-7353 (2003). Paper (PDF) Supporting Information (PDF)

Classification of retinal ganglion cells: a statistical approach.
S.M. Carcieri, A.L. Jacobs, and S. Nirenberg.
J. Neurophysiol. 90:1704-1713 (2003). PDF

Selective ablation of a class of amacrine cells alters spatial processing in the retina.
J.R. Sinclair, A.L. Jacobs, and S. Nirenberg.
J. Neurosci. 24(6):1459-1467 (2004). PDF

Computing and stability in cortical networks.
P.E. Latham and S. Nirenberg.
Neural Comput, 16:1385-1412 (2004). PDF

Synergy, Redundancy, and Independence in Population Codes, Revisited.
P.E. Latham and S. Nirenberg.
J. Neurosci. 25:5195-5206 (2005). PDF

Non-Poisson Fluctuation Statistics in Neuronal Inter-Spike Intervals (ISI): Hurst Parameter Estimates of Mouse Retinal Ganglion Signals.
Q. Zhong, V. Roychowdhury, and S. Nirenberg.
Conf. Proc. IEEE Eng. Med. Biol. Soc. 2:2095-8 (2005). PDF

A filter based encoding model for mouse retinal ganglion cells.
Q. Zhong, V. Roychowdhury, P. Boykin, A.L. Jacobs, and S. Nirenberg.
Conf. Proc. IEEE Eng. Med. Biol. Soc. 2:2087-90 (2005). PDF

Analyzing the activity of large populations of neurons: how tractable is the problem?
S. Nirenberg and J.D. Victor.
Current Opinion in Neurobiology 17(4):397-400 (2007). PDF

Error-correction in the retina: is there any evidence?
P.E. Latham, Y. Roudi, and S. Nirenberg (2007).
Pre-print available on request.

Ganglion cell adaptability: Does the coupling of horizontal cells play a role?
K. Dedek, C. Pandarinath, N. Alam, K. Wellershaus, T. Schubert, K. Willecke, G.T. Prusky, R. Weiler, and S. Nirenberg.
PLoS ONE, 3(3): e1714 (2008). PDF Link

Indices for testing neural codes.
J.D. Victor and S. Nirenberg.
Neural Computation, 20(12):2895-936 (2008). PDF

Ruling out and ruling in neural codes.
A.L. Jacobs, G. Fridman, R.M. Douglas, N.M. Alam, P.E. Latham, G.T. Prusky, and S. Nirenberg.
Proc Natl Acad Sci USA, Apr 7;106(14):5936-41 (2009) PDF Appendix

Pairwise maximum entropy models for studying large biological systems: when they can work and when they can't.
Y. Roudi Y, S. Nirenberg, and P.E. Latham.
PLoS Comput Biol, May;5(5):e1000380 (2009) PDF

Heterogeneous response dynamics in retinal ganglion cells: the interplay of predictive coding and adaptation.
S. Nirenberg, I. Bomash, J.W. Pillow, and J.D. Victor.
J Neurophysiol, June;103(6):3184-94 (2010) PDF

A novel mechanism for switching a neural system from one state to another.
C. Pandarinath, I. Bomash, J.D. Victor, G.T. Prusky, W.W. Tschetter, and S. Nirenberg.
Front Comput Neurosci, Mar;4:2 (2010). PDF

Symmetry breakdown in the ON and OFF pathways of the retina at night: functional implications.
C. Pandarinath, J.D. Victor, and S. Nirenberg.
J Neurosci, 30(30): 10006-14 (2010). PDF

Strategies for finding neural codes.
S. Nirenberg.
In Understanding visual population codes - towards a common multivariate framework for cell recording and functional imaging. Eds: N Kriegeskorte and G Kreiman .Cambridge: MIT (2010).

Spike trains as event sequences: Fundamental implications.
J.D. Victor, and S. Nirenberg.
In Spike Timing: Mechanisms and Function. Eds: P Di Lorenzo and JD Victor (2011).

A retinal prosthetic with the capacity to restore normal vision
S. Nirenberg and C. Pandarinath.
Proc Natl Acad Sci USA (2012). Paper (PDF) Supporting information (PDF)

Determining the role of correlated firing in large populations of neurons using white noise and natural scene stimuli.
M. Meytlis, Z. Nichols, and S. Nirenberg.
Vision Research 70: 44-53 (2012). PDF

A virtual retina for studying population coding.
I. Bomash, Y. Roudi, and S. Nirenberg.
PLoS One 8(1):e53363 (2013). PDF

Interacting linear and nonlinear characteristics produce population coding asymmetries between ON and OFF cells in the retina.
Z. Nichols, S. Nirenberg, and J.D. Victor.
J Neurosci 33(37): 14958-73 (2013). PDF

A system for optically controlling neural circuits with very high spatial and temporal resolution.
C. Pandarinath, E.T. Carlson, and S. Nirenberg.
Conf. Proc. IEEE 13th International Conference on Bioinformatics and Bioengineering (BIBE) (2013). PDF

Studying circuits with therapy in mind.
K.V. Shenoy, H. Mayberg, P. Brown, S. Delp, S. Nirenberg, V. Walsh, and R.V. Shannon.
Cell 156: 861-863 (2014). PDF

Maintaining ocular safety with light exposure, focusing on devices for optogenetic stimulation.
B. Yan, M. Vakulenko, S.H. Min, W.W. Hauswirth, and S. Nirenberg.
Vision Research 121: 57-71 (2016). PDF

Developing an outcome measure with high luminance for optogenetics treatment of severe retinal degenerations and for gene therapy of cone diseases.
A.V. Cideciyan, A.J. Roman, S.G. Jacobson, B.Yan, M. Pascolini, J. Charng, S. Pajaro, S. Nirenberg.
Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 57(7): 3211-21 (2016). PDF

An embedded real-time processing platform for optogenetic neuroprosthetic applications.
B.Yan, and S. Nirenberg.
IEEE Transactions on Neural Systems and Rehabilitation Engineering 26(1): 233-243 (2018). PDF

A clinically viable approach to restoring visual function using optogenetic gene therapy.
B.Yan, S.Viswanathan, S.E.Brodie, W.T.Deng, K.E.Coleman, W.W.Hauswirth, and S.Nirenberg.
Mol Ther Methods Clin Dev. 29: 406-417 (2023).

An engineering platform for clinical application of optogenetic therapy in retinal degenerative diseases.
B.Yan, and S.Nirenberg
IEEE Journal of Translational Engineering in Health and Medicine 11: 296-305 (2023).