INSPIRE Track 1: Zero-One Laws at the Interface Between Physics, Engineering and Biology

该INSPIRE奖的部分资金来自数学和物理科学局物理部的生命系统物理学计划、生物科学局综合组织系统部的神经系统集群组织和调制计划、数学和物理科学局材料研究部的理论计划和数学和物理科学局数学科学部的数学生物学计划。这个项目是研究大脑的变革性理论和数据分析方法发展的第一步。在这个项目中，研究人员将在物理学、工程学和生物学之间建立一个理论框架，研究由于系统中有多个自由度而产生的零一定律/相变和相关的简单性。由此产生的方法将同时应用于工程实例和生物网络，特别是连接神经元或大脑区域的网络。研究人员跨越了从理论物理和控制论到细胞生物学和神经生物学的广泛跨学科范围，并将参与传播结果，并在提案的主题上对学生和研究人员进行广泛的教育。特别是，研究人员将对该提案中开发的理论框架和工具进行两个神经科学应用。第一个方向是分析实验确定的神经回路，第二个方向是大脑节奏，重点是理解相应的相图和异常节奏的可控性。他们希望从这样的分析中恢复视网膜神经节细胞的感受器区域结构。这些方法也将应用于小鼠大脑中观回路。他们的分析将超越网络的图论测量，并提供一座桥梁，连接到活动测量以及神经解剖电路的功能分析，这是目前所缺乏的。研究人员还将探索本文推导出的理论框架对分布式驱动的耦合、异质神经振荡器网络的影响。私人投资促进机构将通过培训研究人员以及举办会议和讲习班来促进这一影响。博士后和学生将在组织这两个研讨会中发挥积极作用。私人投资机构将使用赠款中的资金优先发布开放获取选项。他们将在结果公布后免费提供所有计算机代码和二级数据分析产品。

This INSPIRE award is partially funded by the Physics of Living Systems program in the Division of Physics in the Directorate for Mathematical and Physical Sciences,the Neural Systems Cluster's Organization and Modulation Programs in the Division of Integrative Organismal Systems, within the Directorate for Biological Sciences, the Theory Program in the Division of Materials Research in the Directorate for Mathematical and Physical Sciences and the Mathematical Biology program in the Division of Mathematical Sciences in the Directorate for Mathematical and Physical Sciences. This project is a first step towards the development of transformative theories and data analysis methods for studying the brain. In this project, the investigators will construct a theoretical framework at the interface between physics, engineering and biology that studies zero-one laws/phase transitions and related simplicities arising from having many degrees of freedom in the system. The resulting methods will be applied to both engineering examples and biological networks, particularly networks connecting neurons or brain regions. The investigators span a broad interdisciplinary spectrum ranging from theoretical physics and control theory to cell biology and neurobiology, and will engage in dissemination of the results and educating students and researchers across a broad spectrum in the subject matter of the proposal. In particular the researchers will pursue two neuroscience applications of the theoretical framework and tools developed in this proposal. The first will be directed to the analysis of experimentally determined neural circuits, and the second directed towards brain rhythms, with a focus on understanding the corresponding phase diagrams and the controllability of abnormal rhythms. They expect to recover the receptor field structure of the ganglion cells in the retina from such an analysis. These methods also will be applied to the mouse brain meso-circuit. Their analysis will go beyond graph-theoretic measures of the network and provide a bridge to activity measurements as well as to functional analysis of neuroanatomical circuitry, which is currently lacking. The investigators will also explore the consequences of the theoretical framework derived in this paper to networks of coupled, heterogeneous neural oscillators, with a distributed drive. The PIs will facilitate this impact by training researchers as well as holding meetings and workshops. The postdoc and the student will play an active role in organizing these two workshops. The PIs will publish preferentially with open access option, using funds from the grant. They will make all computer codes and secondary data analysis products available freely after publication of their results.