Jonathan Cannon

Jonathan Cannon

Jonathan Cannon is a computational neuroscientist and mathematician dedicated to revealing the functional roles of oscillations in the brain their implications for the treatment of mental illness.  Dr. Cannon received his doctorate in mathematics at Boston University under the guidance of Nancy Kopell, focusing specifically on mathematical models of gamma-band oscillations and their possible cognitive functions.  During his graduate training, he initiated a collaboration with birdsong researchers, with whom he created models of the role of quasi-oscillatory activity in the generation and stabilization of motor sequences.  After receiving his doctorate, he worked with Paul Miller at Brandeis creating and analyzing models of neurons under the control of multiple homeostatic feedback mechanisms.  He also initiated a collaboration between researchers at Boston University and Tufts with the objective of understanding the experience of a musical beat and its therapeutic effect on Parkinsonian patients through the study of the multi-frequency oscillatory interaction between premotor cortex and the basal ganglia.  Outside of academia, he spends most of his time playing traditional Jewish, Celtic, and Romanian music on violin and guitar.