Workshop: Workshop on Mathematical Neuroscience. September 16-19, 2007. Centre de Recherches Mathématiques, Montréal, Canada.
Includes focus sessions on (1) audition and (2) parkinsonian tremor and deep brain stimulation.
Read on for a guest-posted ad for WNYC’s radio lab (http://www.radiolab.org)
As alluded to below in Neville’s post… here’s the link to the full paper, with a more complete description.
My lab, the Neuroengineering And Neuromedia Group at the MIT Media Lab, has just released a new neurotechnology. We found that just as the algal protein channelrhodopsin-2 (ChR2) can make neurons excitable by brief pulses of blue light, the mammalian codon-optimized version of the protein halorhodopsin (we abbreviate the mammalian codon-optimized form as Halo) can make neurons silenceable by brief pulses of yellow light. Furthermore, the activity of neurons expressing both Halo and ChR2 can be controlled bi-directionally by pulses of blue and yellow light respectively. This toolbox enables extremely sophisticated new kinds of experiment – such as being able to desynchronize neuronal spiking (without altering mean spike rate)! The paper just came out in PLoSONE, a new PLoS journal that encourages papers to become living documents — any reader can comment on any paper.
You can check out, and then comment on, the paper, “Multiple-color optical activation, silencing, and desynchronization of neural activity, with single-spike temporal resolution,” here.
– Ed
In September, 2006, I described my “new brain/mind theory” here and received some challenging criticism from Eric Thomson and Mike S. (see below). To meet these challenges, I prepared a reduced model discussed in a web page linked to a paper in .pdf form. Since my approach is based on little-known thermodynamics, I have also written about mechanical metaphors that may be helpful in explaining my ideas.
Postdoctoral/research scientist positions are available in the inter-disciplinary group of Dmitri Chklovskii at the new Janelia Farm Research Campus of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute located in the suburbs of Washington, D.C. Candidates are expected to have a PhD in neuroscience, physics, computer science or electrical engineering. Most of the work is theoretical or computational and is done in collaboration with several experimental laboratories. Successful applicants will work on projects centered on neuronal circuits such as high-throughput reconstruction of wiring diagrams as well as combining structural and physiological data to infer circuit function. Salary will be commensurate with qualifications. For more information about research directions in the group please see: http://www.hhmi.org/research/groupleaders/chklovskii.html
Interested applicants should send their CV and a statement of research interests to mitya (at) janelia.hhmi.org, and arrange for three recommendation letters to be emailed to me.
Videos have been posted from the Conference on Brain Network Dynamics held at the University of California at Berkeley on January 26-27, 2007.
“The conference will explore the dynamics of distributed brain function from multidisciplinary perspectives. It is being organized at Berkeley in honor of Walter Freeman for his contributions to brain dynamics over the past five decades on the occasion of his 80th birthday. ”
Lots of Interesting talks.
— posted by Charles Cadieu —
Our brains have a lot of problems that need to be solved — now. And neurotechnology is a hot field. But what knowledge and skills do you study if you want to be a neurotechnologist? What problems are important, but also tractable within a reasonable timeframe? And, can you survive while climbing this possibly-very-high mountain?
A team of three academics at MIT and the University of Hong Kong is launching an international collaboration to create a set of novel courses to address this need. The first one, Neurotechnology Ventures, is being taught in Spring 2007 and focuses on neurotechnologies that are close to solving major human problems. The class explores the problems that neurotechnologists encounter when envisioning, planning, and building startups to bring neuroengineering innovations to the world.
Emphasizing the global nature of any modern neurotechnology, Neurotechnology Ventures will be videoconferenced between the U.S. and China, which is increasingly becoming a major neurotechnology player (including some very daring and scientifically interesting developments in fields such as human spinal cord regenerative medicine). Information will be posted online as the class evolves dynamically, to the web site HTTP://Neuroven.Media.MIT.edu. The goal is to open up this new field to the world, and see if we can solve the major problems of the brain in an open and efficient way.
Brain stimulation and depression has been one of the hot topics of the last decade. Now, a Washington Post story suggests that at least some of this may be overrated, at least for the NeuroStar Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) device from Neuronetics:
A novel machine designed to treat depression by zapping the brain with magnetic pulses shows no clear evidence of working, federal health advisers concluded Friday.
The device is called the Neurostar TMS, or transcranial magnetic stimulation, system. It uses magnetic energy to induce electrical currents in the region of the brain associated with mood…
A clinical trial of the device provided results that, in one analysis, suggested it’s no better than sham treatment, according to FDA documents.”
Going to be a long slog. TMS *has* been approved for treating depression in Canada and Israel, for the company NeoPulse.
Two postdoctoral positions are available in my laboratory (http://www.hhmi.org/research/fellows/reiser.html) at the Janelia Farm Research Campus of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (http://www.hhmi.org/janelia/). The work in the lab draws upon experimental and theoretical approaches to investigate the processing of multisensory information in the flight control system of Drosophila. We use tethered-flight experiments in a variety of virtual-reality flight simulators to quantify motor responses to controlled multisensory stimuli; models of these behaviors are used to constrain the computational properties of the supporting neural architecture.
The postdoctoral researchers will be involved in designing and conducting quantitative behavior experiments. The work will include a significant component of data analysis, which will require a creative application of a variety of techniques. Over the course of the appointment, the project will proceed to an investigation of the neuronal circuits controlling identified multisensory processing using molecular-genetic tools and imaging.
Candidates for the first position should have a strong background in biology, with a focus on Drosophila genetics, electrophysiology, biological imaging, and/or quantitative behavior. The second position will emphasize computational approaches and the design of laboratory instrumentation. Those with a technical background in Engineering/Physics/Mathematics and a keen interest in Neuroscience are especially encouraged to apply. A strong applicant should have some experience in several of the following areas: signal processing, control theory, machine learning, computer vision, embedded system design, laboratory instrumentation, and/or scientific computer programming (especially MATLAB experience).
Applicants should have a Ph.D. in Neuroscience/Biology/Engineering or a related field. Interested applicants should contact me by email. Please include your curriculum vitae and a letter of research interests, and arrange for three letters of reference to be sent to:
Michael Reiser
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Janelia Farm Research Campus
19700 Helix Drive
Ashburn, VA 20147
Email: reiserm at janelia dot hhmi dot org
Dear Members,
I am a prospective graduate student interested in taking up Neural Engineering under EE or Biomedical Engg for research. But I have a lot of concerns and need help from a person who knows about the field well.
1. I have studied VLSI, DSP, Image Processing, Wireless Communication, Control Systems and Embedded Systems as graduate and undergraduate courses and have some research interest in Neural Networks and Machine Learning(That’s how I got interested in Neural Engg and Prosthetics). Which of these subjects will be of help in Neural Engg/Prosthetics research. Which will be of most relevance. Please list them in the order of relevance(high->low).
2. What are the applications of the research ?
3. What is the research and JOB scope for this field? Are there any companies who recruit people with this specialisation? How is the job scene in academia? How many univs are doing research in this field in US? Please let me know about the career progression in academia, like how much time does it take to get full time academic position after PhD?
4. Especially, what are the applications of this research in Robotics?
5. What are the current problems and research themes in universities?
6. What imaging technologies are used in this research?
Though my queries may seem a bit ameteuristic, it is very important for me to get clarity on these doubts.
Hope my queries will be answered.
Thanking all of you in advance,
sudhi