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Potential research projects |
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The biomechanics of Aplysia
mouth movements
How do neural control and biomechanics interact
during control? To address this question, students
will analyze the biomechanics and neural control of
a well-studied system, the feeding apparatus of
Aplysia, and develop mathematical and computational
models of the structure, as well as of its neural
control. |
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Comparative analysis of network motifs
in systems biology
Molecular systems biology is an emerging discipline aimed at
understanding cellular function at the systems level. A prerequisite
to this systems level understanding will be to understand the
relationships between proteins, DNA and RNA. These relationships can
be identified in terms of physical interactions that underlie various
cellular processes (e.g., metabolism, signaling, regulation of
molecular activity), as well as indirect functional association, such
as genetic interactions or synthetic lethality. These relationships
are often abstracted using network models, which provide high level
descriptions of the organization of the cell. Graph theoretical
analyses of molecular networks show that... |
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Analysis of topographic maps in the cortex
The occipital (visual) cortex of mammals contains topographic maps of the
visual field, such that a stimulus in the shape of an X will produce neural
activity which, when viewed on a flattened representation of the cortex,
also looks like an X. Topographic maps form because it is less metabolically
costly for highly interconnected neurons to lie next to each other on the
cortical surface. Topographic maps therefore reveal important information
about the computations carried out in different parts of the brain.
It has been hypothesized that many other areas, outside occipital cortex,
also contain topographic maps. However, research has stalled because there
are presently no quantitative tools available for assessing topographic
organization.... |
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Mathematics of brain activity
mapping by MEG This project is an introduction to the mathematics
of magnetoencephalography (MEG). Some of the standard models and
inversion algorithms are reviewed, and students get a hands-on
experience on simulating and interpreting MEG data. Real MEG data will
be provided by the MEG laboratory of the Epilepsy Center of the
Cleveland Clinic, where methods are developed and tested for
localizing the focus of the onset of epileptic seizures.... |
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Single cell psychophysics: gradient
sensing in neutrophils
P. Thomas (Mathematics, Biology & Cognitive Science) and H. Baskaran
(Chemical Engineering & Biomedical Engineering) have formed a new
collaboration investigate quantitatively the dynamics of information
processing and decision making in biochemical signaling networks
controlling eukaryotic chemotaxis. The proposed work will combine
experimental, computational and theoretical approaches to studying the
chemotactic response to precise spatially and temporally controlled
chemical stimuli. Specified spatiotemporal patterns of chemical
signals will be prepared by a microfabricated fluidic control device.
Single cell responses will be measured through cell motility assays
and fluorescence measurements of intracellular signaling protein
spatial distributions... |
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Cognitive networks and memory
Despite decades of research into the nature of memory, many basic
questions about the mechanisms of learning, information storage and
retrieval in the human brain remain unanswered. In the proposed
year-long RIBMS project, a team of two undergraduate students will
work with an interdisciplinary team at the Memory and Cognition Center
at Case Western Reserve University to study fundamental mechanisms of
memory based on analysis of controlled word association and recall
tasks. Specifically, the students will develop computational models
and analyze experimental data to explore the concept of semantic space
from both mathematical and biological perspectives.... |
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