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Neuroinformatics
Contact:
Prof John
Jefferys
Department of Neurophysiology, Division of Neuroscience
The School of Medicine
The
University of Birmingham
Vincent Drive
Edgbaston, Birmingham
B15 2TT, United Kingdom
Email:
informatics-crn-enquiries[at]cs.bham.ac.uk
Website: http://www.neuroscience.bham.ac.uk/neurophysiology/
The brain is the most
complex known object. It is arguably the ultimate challenge to science
in general and informatics in particular. The human brain contains at
least 1012 neurons, each receiving ~103 inputs from other neurons. Understanding
how the brain works needs to integrate many different approaches, with
the complexity of the brain demanding studies at multiple levels. The
complexity of the data collected at each level provides a substantial
challenge for neuroinformatics in the analysis of macro- and micro-scopic
images, EEG recordings, cellular and subcellular recordings, gene expression,
etc. Linking these different levels together into a coherent whole is,
if anything, an even greater challenge.
Compartmental models help us understand how the properties of neuronal
membranes combine to produce the excitability properties of individual
neurons. Similar models help us understand how networks of neurons produce
their collective “emergent” properties, such as epileptic seizures and
physiological oscillations (or brain waves). At Birmingham, studying the
brain involves both experimental research and neuroinformatics which is
increasingly important. Key areas are signal analysis, image analysis
and realistic computer modelling of neurons and neuronal networks, in
collaboration with CERCIA.
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