Yulia Bereshpolova

Assistant Research Professor

Psychological Sciences

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Education

Ph.D., 2000, Rostov State University

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Research Interests

• Visual neuroscience
• State-dependent visual processing
• Thalamocortical connectivity

Research Synopsis:

Have you ever wondered how our brain creates a detailed picture of the world around us? It’s an incredible process involving multiple brain regions and a complex network of different classes of neurons constantly communicating to each another. Our lab focuses on how these neurons work together and how their communication is enhanced or disrupted depending on the behavioral state when the brain activity shifts from vigilance to inattention and to sleep. Toward these goals we use combinations of innovative methods in awake behaving animals.

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Recent Publications:

Su C, Mendes-Platt RF, Alonso JM, Swadlow HA, Bereshpolova Y. (2025) Retinal direction of motion is reliably transmitted to visual cortex through highly selective thalamocortical connections. Current Biology 6:217-223. Featured in Current Biology by Akihiro Matsumoto and Keisuke Yonehara (Matsumoto A, Yonehara K. Motion detection: Specific thalamocortical connections revealed. Curr Biol. 2025 35: R11-R13).

Su C, Mendes-Platt RF, Alonso JM, Swadlow HA, Bereshpolova Y. (2024). Visual corticotectal neurons in awake rabbits: Receptive fields and driving monosynaptic thalamocortical inputs. Journal of Neuroscience, 14:e1945232024.

Bereshpolova Y, Hei X, Alonso J-M, Swadlow HA. (2020) Three rules govern thalamocortical connectivity of fast-spike inhibitory interneurons in the visual cortex. eLife 9:e60102. Featured in eLife by Frederic Chavane and Diego Contreras (Chavane F, Contreras D. (2021). Like a clock in the rabbit’s visual cortex. eLife 10).

Bereshpolova Y, Stoelzel CR, Su C, Alonso JM, and Swadlow HA (2019). Activation of a visual cortical column by a directionally selective thalamocortical neuron. Cell Reports. 27, 3733–3740.e3.

Complete list of published work on ‪Google Scholar‬