ya311.md

title	date	firstname	lastname	year_arrived	still_around	email	status	uni	website	google_scholar	draft	labs
Yashar Ahmadian	2018-03-14 12:22:51 UTC	Yashar	Ahmadian	2020	true	ya311 - at - cam.ac.uk	faculty	Cambridge	/ahmadian	https://scholar.google.co.uk/citations?hl=en&user=ZDaThWgAAAAJ	false	cbl ahmadian

Overview: Our lab's research is in theoretical neuroscience. Our broad interest is in understanding how large networks of neurons, e.g. those in the mammalian cerebral cortex, process sensory inputs and give rise to higher-level cognitive functions through their collective dynamics on multiple time scales. To shed light on the complexity of neurobiological phenomena we use mathematical models that capture a few core concepts or computational and dynamical principles. We also work on developing new statistical and computational tools for analyzing large, high-dimensional neurobiological and behavioral datasets. In pursuing these goals we use techniques from statistical physics, random matrix theory, machine learning and information theory. We collaborate with experimental labs here in the University of Oregon and elsewhere.

Current questions of interest include the following. How do randomness and nonnormality in the connectivity structure of networks affect their dynamics? What roles do the horizontal and feedback connections in sensory cortical areas play in contextual modulation (how e.g. the response of neurons in the visual cortex is affected by the visual context surrounding that stimulus) and ultimately in the dynamical representation of objects? Can the breakup of neural response types in the early auditory system be explained by efficient coding principles?