Louis Kang
Neural Circuits and Computations Unit
RIKEN Center for Brain Sciencelouis.kang@riken.jp
https://louiskang.group
Updated 3 June 2024

Positions
Unit Leader (Junior Group Leader), Neural Circuits and Computations Unit
RIKEN Center for Brain Science, Wako, Japan
Miller Postdoctoral Fellow
University of California, Berkeley, USA
Host departments: Physics and Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute
Host faculty: Mike DeWeese2020–
2017–2020

Visiting and Adjunct Positions
Adjunct Associate Professor, Graduate School of Informatics
Kyoto University, Japan
Visiting Scientist
RIKEN Center for Brain Science, Wako, Japan
Host faculty: Taro Toyoizumi

2021–Summer 2019

Research Statement
Human cognition ultimately emerges from sophisticated computations performed by networks ofneurons. I use and develop theoretical tools to investigate how our brains make sense of and respondto our dynamic environments. In particular, I am interested in how hippocampal circuits produce
memory and how they are disrupted in neurological diseases.

Education
MD, Perelman School of Medicine
University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, USA

2017

PhD, Department of Physics & Astronomy
2015
University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, USA
Thesis advisor: Tom Lubensky
Thesis title: Chirality and its spontaneous symmetry breaking in two liquid crystal systems
AB in Chemistry and Physics and Mathematics summa cum laude
Harvard University, Cambridge, USA2009

Publications *equal contribution  corresponding author
13. Eydam S , Franović I, Kang L. Control of seizure-like dynamics in neuronal populations with

Louis Kang

2

excitability adaptation related to ketogenic diet. Chaos 34, 053128 (2024). doi:10.1063/5.0180954.
12. Kang L , Toyoizumi T. Distinguishing examples while building concepts in hippocampal andartificial networks. Nat Commun 15, 647 (2024). doi:10.1038/s41467-024-44877-0.
11. Kang L , Toyoizumi T. A Hopfield-like model with complementary encodings of memories.
Phys Rev E 108, 054410 (2023). doi:10.1103/PhysRevE.108.054410.
10. Wang R, Kang L . Multiple bumps can enhance robustness to noise in continuous attractor
networks. PLOS Comput Biol 18, e1010547 (2022). doi:10.1371/journal.pcbi.1010547.
9. Kang L , Xu B, Morozov D. Evaluating state space discovery by persistent cohomology inthe spatial representation system. Front Comput Neurosci 15, 616748 (2021).
doi:10.3389/fncom.2021.616748.
8. Kang L , DeWeese MR. Replay as wavefronts and theta sequences as bump oscillations in agrid cell attractor network. eLife 8, e46351 (2019). doi:10.7554/eLife.46351.
7. Kang L , Balasubramanian V. A geometric attractor mechanism for self-organization of entorhinal grid modules. eLife 8, e46687 (2019). doi:10.7554/eLife.46687.
6. Kang L , Lubensky TC. Chiral twist drives raft formation and organization in membranes
composed of rod-like particles. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 114, E19 (2017).
doi:10.1073/pnas.1613732114.
5. Kang L , Gibaud T, Dogic Z, Lubensky TC. Entropic forces stabilize diverse emergent structures in colloidal membranes. Soft Matter 12, 386 (2016). doi:10.1039/C5SM02038G.
4. Davidson ZS*, Kang L*, Jeong J*,  , Still T, Collings PJ, Lubensky TC, Yodh AG. Chiralstructures and defects of lyotropic chromonic liquid crystals induced by saddle-splay elasticity.
Phys Rev E 91, 050501 (2015). doi:10.1103/PhysRevE.91.050501.
3. Jeong J*,  , Kang L*, Davidson ZS, Collings PJ, Lubensky TC, Yodh AG. Chiral structuresfrom achiral liquid crystals in cylindrical capillaries. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 112, E1837(2015). doi:10.1073/pnas.1423220112.
2. Idema T, Dubuis JO, Kang L, Manning ML, Nelson PC, Lubensky TC, Liu AJ . The syncytial Drosophila embryo as a mechanically excitable medium. PLOS ONE 8, e77216 (2013).
doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0077216.
1. Heo M, Kang L, Shakhnovich EI . Emergence of species in evolutionary “simulated annealing”. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 106, 1869 (2009). doi:10.1073/pnas.0809852106.

Grants, Awards, and Honors
KAKENHI Grant-in-Aid for Early-Career Scientists
2022–2024
Japan Society for the Promotion of Science
Project role: PI
Project title: The influence of attractor topology on seizure initiation in the hippocampal region(22K15209)
Collaborative Research Travel Grant
2019–2020
Burroughs Wellcome Fund
Project role: PI
Project title: Complementary input pathways enhance associative memory in a model of CA3

Louis Kang3Travel Award
Computational Neuroscience Meeting (CNS*2018)
Miller Research Fellowship
University of California, Berkeley

2018
2017–2020

Mary Ellis Bell Prize
2016
University of Pennsylvania, Perelman School of Medicine“This prize is given to a student in the School of Medicine who is engaged in noteworthy researchin any field related to medicine.”
Werner Teutsch Memorial Prize
2012
University of Pennsylvania, Department of Physics & Astronomy“Awarded annually to the graduate student who, by his or her performance in the first year courses,
shows the most promise for outstanding achievement in research.”
Medical Scientist Training Program
2009–2017
National Institutes of Health (USA), awarded through the University of Pennsylvania
Phi Beta Kappa
Harvard University

2009

Conference Presentations talk
Summer Cluster at the Simons Institute for the Theory of Computing: AI, Psychology,and Neuroscience, Berkeley, USA
2024
Distinguishing examples while building concepts in hippocampal and artificial networks
Bernstein Conference, Berlin, Germany
Multiscale encodings of memories in hippocampal and artificial networks

2022

Computational and Systems Neuroscience (Cosyne), Lisbon, Portugal
Multiscale encodings of memories in hippocampal and artificial networks

2022

Computational and Systems Neuroscience (Cosyne), Denver, USA
Complementary encoding pathways build a memory hierarchy in a model of hippocampus

2020

Society for Neuroscience Meeting, Chicago, USA
2019
Replay as wavefronts and theta sequences as bump oscillations in a grid cell attractor network
Bernstein Conference, Berlin, Germany
Replay arises naturally as a traveling wavefront in an entorhinal attractor network

2018

Computational Neuroscience Meeting (CNS*2018), Seattle, USA
A geometric attractor mechanism for the self-organization of entorhinal grid modules

2018

Interdisciplinary Navigation Symposium (iNAV), Mont-Tremblant, CanadaA geometric attractor mechanism for the self-organization of entorhinal grid modules

2018

American Physical Society March Meeting, Los Angeles, USA
Self-organization of entorhinal grid modules through commensurate lattice relationships

2018

Computational and Systems Neuroscience (Cosyne), Denver, USA
Self-organization of entorhinal grid modules through commensurate lattices

2018

American Physical Society March Meeting, New Orleans, USA

2017

Louis Kang4

Membrane rafts stabilized by chiral liquid crystal correction to bare interfacial tension
Computational and Systems Neuroscience (Cosyne), Salt Lake City, USA
Coupling between attractor networks naturally generates a discrete grid cell hierarchy

2017

Gordon Research Conference & Seminar on Liquid Crystals, Biddeford, USA
Roles of entropy and chirality in depletion-induced colloidal membranes

2015

American Chemical Society Colloid & Surface Science Symposium,Philadelphia, USA
A theory for depletion-induced colloidal membranes

2014

American Physical Society March Meeting, Denver, USA
A theory for depletion-induced colloidal membranes

2014

IAS Program on Frontiers of Soft Matter Physics, Hong Kong
A theory for depletion-induced colloidal membranes

2014

American Physical Society March Meeting, Baltimore, USA
Mitotic wavefronts mediated by mechanical signaling in early Drosophila embryos

2013

Scientific Community Involvement
Workshop organizer, Computational and Systems Neuroscience (Cosyne)
2023
Seeking universality while celebrating heterogeneity among biological attractor networks
Speakers: Misha Tsodyks, Lisa Giocomo, Yi Gu, Kechen Zhang, Dan Turner-Evans, Laura Driscoll,Yoram Burak, Tatiana Engel, Ila Fiete, Christiane Linster, Kevin Franks, Kayvon Daie, Adit Radhakrishnan, Joanna Chang, Albert Compte, Luca Mazzucato, Valentin Schmutz, Nicolas Brunel
Peer Reviewer
Nature Communications, PLOS Computational Biology, Neural Computation, Physical Review E,Frontiers in Computational Neuroscience, Neural Networks, Cosyne conference submissions

Teaching
An introduction to computational neuroscience
RIKEN Center for Brain Science, Brain Science Training Program
Two-hour lecture for graduate students once a year

2022–

Recurrent neural networks in the brain
Kyoto University, Graduate School of Informatics
Three-hour lecture for graduate students once a year

2021–

References
Mike DeWeese
Postdoctoral advisor
University of California, Berkeley
Redwood Center for Theoretical Neuroscience
deweese@berkeley.edu

Taro Toyoizumi
Research mentor
RIKEN Center for Brain Science
Neural Adaptation and Computation Lab
taro.toyoizumi@riken.jp

Tom McHughExperimental collaborator

Yoram Burak
Expert in computational neuroscienceLouis KangRIKEN Center for Brain Science
Circuit and Behavioral Physiology Lab
thomas.mchugh@riken.jp

5Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Safra Center for Brain Sciences
yoram.burak@elsc.huji.ac.il