SUNMONTUEWEDTHUFRISAT
Events for the 2nd week of February
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Biomedical Engineering Seminars
Mon, Feb 05, 2018 @ 12:30 PM - 01:50 PM
Alfred E. Mann Department of Biomedical Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Fikret Kirkbir, Ph.D, Director for Intellectual and Patents, AMI
Talk Title: TBA
Host: Professor Qifa Zhou
Location: Olin Hall of Engineering (OHE) - 122
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Mischalgrace Diasanta
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Biomedical Engineering Department Guest Speaker
Mon, Feb 05, 2018 @ 01:00 PM - 02:00 PM
Alfred E. Mann Department of Biomedical Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Ben Dongsong Huh, Postdoctoral Fellow, Computational Neurobiology Laboratory, Salk Institute for Biological Studies
Talk Title: Investigating the spike-based computations of the brain
Abstract: Our brain uses temporal dynamics of neural activities to perform real-time computations: it processes time-varying streams of information and produces action sequences. How the brain coordinates the complex biophysical dynamics to form the basis for computation is a central problem in neuroscience. I apply optimal control theory to investigate how functionality of dynamical systems arises from first principles and, more specifically, to establish a unifying framework for understanding the dynamics and computations of the brain. The most prominent characteristics of biological neural networks is spikes: The brief impulse signals link individual neural dynamics and provide a unified currency for the asynchronous information processing in the brain. However, neuroscience lacks the theoretical framework for modeling how spikes represent information and perform computations in distributed network architectures. To solve this problem, I derived the first general learning algorithm for spiking neural networks from an optimal control principle, representing the first step in harnessing the computational potential of spikes. The spike-based computational principles can be extracted by analyzing how a trained network solves the computational tasks. More generally, this method allows combining the top-down deep learning approaches with the biophysical network properties to yield detailed models of neural systems that are both structurally and functionally accurate.
This research has a wide range of engineering applications, including spike-based deep learning for neuromorphic devices, and next generation Brain-Machine-Interface and neuro-prosthetics that directly use spike signals for fine control. Most importantly, I aim to promote close collaborations between neuroscience and artificial intelligence research by providing a common theoretical framework.
Host: Ellis Meng, PhD
Location: Corwin D. Denney Research Center (DRB) - 145/145A
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Mischalgrace Diasanta
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Biomedical Engineering Department Guest Speaker
Thu, Feb 08, 2018 @ 01:00 AM - 02:00 PM
Alfred E. Mann Department of Biomedical Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Jennifer Treweek, Postdoctoral Fellow, Division of Biology and Bioengineering, Caltech
Talk Title: Functional and anatomical mapping of neuropeptide circuitry using modern neuroscience techniques
Abstract: Neuropeptide systems are notoriously difficult to study due to their biological complexity and the overall technical inadequacy of traditional pharmacological tools (e.g., synthetic design of receptor ligands, immunohistochemistry-based labeling). However, given the pathological relevance of neuropeptides, such as corticotropin releasing factor, to a variety of disease states, the functional and anatomical characterization of neuropeptide circuitry is crucial to our discovery of better disease therapies. The development and application of new technologies to enable such characterization is an important first step towards this goal.
In my talk, I will summarize recent improvements to in vivo modalities for recording and perturbing neuronal activity in behaving rodents, as well as ex vivo techniques for analyzing the functional connectivity of targeted cells at the single-molecule through systems-levels. In particular, our methods for the multiplexed labeling and imaging of mRNA and peptide epitopes at depth in cleared tissue offer scientists an opportunity to visualize transcriptional changes and structural plasticity in intact circuits during the progression of disease.
Host: Ellis Meng, PhD
Location: Corwin D. Denney Research Center (DRB) - 145/145A
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Mischalgrace Diasanta