Stability and Flexibility of Oscillatory Neural Circuits

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DESCRIPTION:(from applicant's abstract) How can oscillatory neural circuits generate spatio-temporal activity patterns that are robust in the presence of noise yet flexible enough to provide specific, reproducible, adaptive responses to inputs? This problem is central to sensory processing as well as motor coordination. Our approach to this question involves a well-established and productive, interdisciplinary team from Biology, Physics and Nonlinear Dynamics. It combines nonlinear dynamical analysis, computational and electronic modeling, and neurophysiological studies of a tractable, oscillatory motor circuit from the crustacean stomatogastric system. Specifically, we ask: How do particular membrane properties, synaptic strengths and kinetics, and circuit architectures contribute to the production of multiple, stable and controllable patterns? How do these characteristics, and their modulation, affect dynamical responses to noise and control signals?