PhD in Computational and Mathematical Neuroscience (EPSRC funded, 3.5 yrs, Sept 2019 start)
General information & apply (funding is primarily targeted at UK students):
http://www.exeter.ac.uk/studying/funding/award/index.php?id=3386
Project description:
http://www.exeter.ac.uk/codebox/phdprojects/Rankin-EPSRC-DTP-Project.pdf
Closing date 7th Jan 2019
This interdisciplinary project will develop computational and
mathematical models of the auditory system to understand how complex
stimuli like speech are encoded by spiking neurons in the midbrain.
The auditory midbrain is a key hub in the auditory processing pathway,
functioning as an important junction that relays and shapes neural
signals as they ascend towards auditory cortex. Knowledge of the way in
which complex sounds, e.g. speech, are encoded in the midbrain is
crucial for understanding how dysfunction in the earlier auditory
processing pathway (cochlea, auditory nerve, cochlear nucleus) leads to
different types of hearing loss (a problem affecting 1 in 6 people in
the UK). Working with neural recordings from the auditory midbrain in
gerbils, a commonly-used animal for the study of low-frequency hearing,
this project will develop mathematical and computational models of the
auditory processing pathway. The aim is to understand the different
roles of the patterns of inputs to midbrain neurons and their intrinsic
response properties (e.g. their spiking rate) in shaping their responses
to complex sounds.
The project will use a dynamical systems
approach to model the intrinsic properties of individual neurons in the
midbrain in a biologically plausible way (working with, e.g. adaptive
exponential integrate-and-fire neurons or the Hodgkin-Huxley equations).
Inputs to these neurons will be based on established cochlear models
and the biological details of the auditory nerve and cochlear nucleus.
The resulting model will produce firing patterns directly comparable
with neural recordings provided by the experimental supervisor. This
data will be used to train and parameter fit the model using e.g.
Bayesian optimisation or genetic algorithms. The resultant model will
have explanatory power for the extent to which midbrain responses are
shaped by its inputs from cochlear nucleus. Further, it will make
predictions, testable in new experiments, of how midbrain responses will
be affected by different dysfunctions of the early auditory system
relating to hearing loss.
The successful candidate will receive
training dynamical systems theory and in the development and analysis
of individual neuron and neural network models. An interdisciplinary
approach, incorporating known biological details of the auditory
processing pathway, will require the candidate to learn the relevant
biology and neuroscience along with mathematical and computational
techniques. The project will involve working closely with experimental
neuroscientists and experimental data. This project provides a unique
opportunity to receive training in mathematical modelling in close
collaboration with experimentalists using cutting-edge methods recording
spikes simultaneously from hundreds of neurons. Experience working on
such interdisciplinary projects is highly sought after.
Candidates with quantitative backgrounds (mathematics, physics,
engineering) and from neuroscience programmes are encouraged to apply.
Programming experience, knowledge of dynamical systems theory and
experience in biological modelling are a plus.
For further information, please contact me at the email address above.