William E. Skaggs

Skaggs obtained his PhD in 1995 under the direction of Bruce McNaughton at the University of Arizona.[1]

Skaggs was a faculty member at the University of California, Davis, where he conducted research on neurophysiology in primates, often using computational neuroscience.[2] He was noted particularly for his elucidation of the role of theta waves in the function of the hippocampus, via their role in phase precession and firing replay.[2] This work led to a greater understanding of memory, learning, and navigation through space.[3]

He was also a science writer who helped popularize scientific concepts for a general audience.[3] In this role, he was an editor at Wikipedia, under the name Looie496.[3]

A special issue of the journal Behavioral Neuroscience was dedicated to Skaggs in 2020 after he died from a heart attack.[4]

Google Scholar lists more than 40 publications that, together, have been cited over 10,000 times (three of them over 1000 times each), giving Skaggs an h-index of 26.[5] His most-cited papers are:[5]

1. Skaggs, William E.; McNaughton, Bruce L.; Wilson, Matthew A.; Barnes, Carol A. (1996). "Theta phase precession in hippocampal neuronal populations and the compression of temporal sequences". Hippocampus. 6 (2): 149–172. doi:10.1002/(SICI)1098-1063(1996)6:2%3C149::AID-HIPO6%3E3.0.CO;2-K. (>1800 citations)
2. Skaggs, William E.; McNaughton, Bruce L. (29 March 1996). "Replay of neuronal firing sequences in rat hippocampus during sleep following spatial experience". Science. 271 (5257): 1870–1873. doi:10.1126/science.271.5257.1870. (>1300 citations)
3. McNaughton, B. L.; Barnes, C. A.; Gerrard, J. L.; Gothard, K.; Jung, M. W.; Knierim, J. J.; Kudrimoti, H.; Qin, Y.; Skaggs, W. E.; Suster, M.; Weaver, K. L. (1 January 1996). "Deciphering the Hippocampal Polyglot: the hippocampus as a path integration system". Journal of Experimental Biology. 199 (1): 173–185. doi:10.1242/jeb.199.1.173. (>1000 citations)