Computer models of the electrical activities in hippocampal neurons

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The main objectives of the proposed research program are: 1) Develop macroscopic and microscopic computer models to elucidate the nature of the brain's electrical rhythmic activity under normal and pathological states (such as epilepsy). In particular, include mechanisms of neuroplasticity and extracellular potassium clearance (as performed by glial cells), in the existing models, to investigate their effects on system state transitions. Macroscopic models will characterize the "system" behaviour in terms of electrical brain rhythms using cognitive rhythm generator models (proposed by our lab team), and microscopic models will characterize ionic transport mechanisms in cellular models using stochastic Hodgkin-Huxley type models - that exhibit the noise-like activity in their resting potentials, as recorded (by our lab team) from hyperpolarized hippocampal neurons. 2) Develop artificial neural networks that learn the various brain states and their state transitions, from the biological neural networks of the brain. 3) Develop biologically-inspired responsive neuromodulators, based on the above models, to abolish the onset of spontaneous seizure-like events. 4) Develop proto-type electronic hardware implementations of the biologiocally-inspired responsive neuromodulators, appropriate for use initially in animal models, and eventually for deep brain stimulation (DBS) in human subjects.