Yuri Saalmann is a Professor and Associate Chair of Graduate Studies in the Department of Psychology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. His research focuses on characterizing the neural dynamics in brain networks supporting cognitive control and conscious awareness. He is affiliated with the Wisconsin National Primate Research Center, the Department of Neuroscience, and the Neuroscience Training Program at UW-Madison. Dr. Saalmann's research investigates three major questions: how cognitive control is executed (including selective attention, rule-guided behavior, and mental set shifting); neural differences between conscious, anesthetized, and sleep states; and how the brain codes and regulates information transmission. His lab combines neuroimaging and electrophysiology to map brain networks using functional and diffusion MRI, while simultaneously recording neural activity from interconnected network sites in behaving macaques and human subjects. His recent publications reveal a strong emphasis on thalamocortical interactions, consciousness mechanisms, and neural dynamics across different brain states. The work increasingly focuses on layer-specific cortical dynamics, thalamic regulation of information flow, and computational approaches to understanding brain network organization. Dr. Saalmann serves as Associate Editor for Frontiers in Systems Neuroscience and holds significant departmental responsibilities as Associate Chair for Graduate Studies. He is also active on the Executive Committee of the Wisconsin National Primate Research Center and the Faculty Honors Committee at UW-Madison. His laboratory provides extensive training opportunities in multi-electrode recordings, microstimulation, functional and diffusion MRI, and computational analyses, with facilities available at the Wisconsin National Primate Research Center and state-of-the-art neuroimaging centers at the Waisman Center and Lane Neuroimaging Laboratory.
