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

该INSPIRE奖部分由数学和物理科学理事会物理学部的生命系统物理学计划，生物科学理事会内综合有机系统部的神经系统集群组织和调制计划资助，数学和物理科学理事会材料研究部的理论计划和数学生物学计划数学和物理科学理事会数学科学司。该项目是朝着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的界面上构建一个理论框架，研究零-一定律/相变以及系统中具有许多自由度所产生的相关简单性。由此产生的方法将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。 研究人员跨越了广泛的跨学科范围，从理论物理和控制理论到细胞生物学和神经生物学，并将参与传播结果，并在提案的主题范围内教育学生和研究人员。特别是，研究人员将继续研究本提案中开发的理论框架和工具的两个神经科学应用。第一个将针对实验确定的神经回路的分析，第二个针对脑节律，重点是理解相应的相图和异常节律的可控性。他们希望通过这样的分析恢复视网膜神经节细胞的受体场结构。这些方法也将被应用到小鼠脑中回路。他们的分析将超越网络的图论测量，并为活动测量以及目前缺乏的神经解剖电路的功能分析提供桥梁。研究人员还将探讨本文中导出的理论框架对具有分布式驱动的耦合异构神经振荡器网络的影响。研究所将通过培训研究人员以及举行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。PI将优先使用赠款中的资金以开放获取选项发布。他们将在结果发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.