Sujith Vijayan has been appointed as an assistant professor in the School of Neuroscience at Virginia Tech, part of the College of Science.

Vijayan focuses his research on the neural dynamics underlying sensory processing, sleep, learning, and memory. In his research, Vijayan uses a combination of computational modeling, signal processing techniques, and both invasive and noninvasive experimental methods of recording brain activity.

He earned a bachelor’s degree in cognitive science and psychology at Amherst College in Massachusetts, a master’s degree in mathematics from Boston University, and a doctoral degree in neurobiology at Harvard University. During graduate research work, Vijayan collected electrophysiological recordings from the hippocampus and somatosensory cortex of rats during active behavior and sleep to gain insight into general sleep physiology and the role of sleep physiological activity in memory consolidation.

During postdoctoral research work at Boston University, he constructed biophysically realistic computational models in an effort that resulted in the discovery of a likely mechanism for emotional and procedural motor memory consolidation during deep sleep.

Vijayan is one of 22 tenured and tenure-track faculty members to join the College of Science and the Virginia Tech School of Neuroscience this year.

Written by Mari Botha, of Ashburn, Virginia, a junior majoring in economics and professional and technical writing at Virginia Tech. 

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