His laboratory uses experimental and computational approaches to study developmental plasticity and dynamic changes in mature cortical networks during information processing and learning.
His laboratory has discovered fundamental principles by which neurons of the cerebral cortex are wired during development and operate dynamically in adulthood to enable perception, cognition and action.
These findings have implications for restoring function after brain damage and for constructing neural prostheses for recovery from stroke or trauma.
The Sur lab pioneered all-optical measurements of single-neuron activity with cell-specific manipulations to discover unique functions of inhibitory neuron classes in brain computations.
Their imaging technologies combined with decoding and encoding models have revealed novel principles of memory-guided decisions across cortical areas and subcortical targets.
He has been awarded the Krieg Cortical Discoverer Prize (2016) and the Doctor of Science honoris causa from Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur (2017).