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PhD studentship: Mode-locked encoding of periodic stimuli in
the auditory system. In response to periodic stimuli neurons in the auditory
system fire action potentials synchronized to the stimulus waveform: a process
termed phase-locking. However, we have recently shown that responses of
cochlear nucleus chopper cells respond to periodic stimuli (AM tones and steady-state
vowels) with higher order periodic spiking patterns (Laudanski et al. 2010, J.
Neurophysiol. PMID 20042702). These complex forms of locking are known as
‘mode-locking’. Mode-locking is well known in mathematics through
the theory of non-linear oscillators, of which integrate-and-fire models of
neurons are an example. The central questions of this PhD studentship will be: is
the timing of spikes ‘mode-locked’ to periodic stimuli elsewhere in
the auditory system, and what role might it play in auditory processing? It
will involve analysis of existing physiological data, the collection of novel
data, the development of large scale computational models and analytic
mathematical methods to help understand the role of mode locking for stimulus
representation in the auditory system. This will be an interdisciplinary
project, requiring good mathematical and programming skills, and an interest in
auditory neuroscience. It will lead to a PhD in Mathematics from the University
of Nottingham. Applicants should have, or expect to obtain, a First or
Upper Second class degree in Mathematics, Statistics, or a closely related
subject. Studentships are competitive and will begin in September 2010, and are
funded for 4 years. To be eligible for an MRC Studentship, applicants must be
a UK national or have suitable links to the UK. EU applicants can apply for
fees-only awards. Informal enquires can be made to Dr Chris Sumner
(chris@xxxxxxxxxxxxx), Prof. Steve Coombes (stephen.coombes@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx)
or Prof. Alan Palmer (alan@xxxxxxxxxxxxx). Further details and the application
process can be found at http://www.maths.nottingham.ac.uk/news/newsresources/ |