Computational models of interactions between developmental and homeostatic processes during nervous system development

神经系统的发育是一个复杂的生长、专业化和完善的过程。一旦神经元形成了连接，内在产生的自发电活动具有控制和维持未成熟神经回路稳定性的关键作用。如果这种调节失败，电路就不能正常发育，结果可能会出现癫痫等神经系统疾病。目前，我们才刚刚开始了解这些监管过程。这项研究的一个挑战是，往往多个细胞机制同时作用，导致神经生理和电路之间复杂的相互作用。在这个项目中，最先进的计算和数学建模将用于解决这些问题。神经回路和调节过程的模型将结合起来解释实验结果，并开发新的，实验验证的假设。这些方法也将用于研究发育中的视网膜神经活动的调节，视网膜是神经发育和神经退行性疾病的重要模型系统。因此，该项目不仅将促进我们对发育过程中神经活动调节的基本理解，还有助于了解发育和退行性神经系统疾病的起源。此外，计算模型可以帮助减少研究所需的动物数量。

Nervous system development is a complicated process of growth, specialisation and refinement. Once neurons have formed connections, intrinsically generated spontaneous electrical activity has a critical role of controlling and maintaining the stability of immature neural circuits. If this regulation fails, circuits can not develop properly, and neurological disorders such as epilepsy can develop as a result. Currently, we are only beginning to understand these regulatory processes. A challenge for this research is that often multiple cellular mechanism act simultaneously, resulting in complicated mutual interactions between neural physiology and circuits. In this project, state of the art computational and mathematical modelling will be used to address these questions. Models of neural circuits and regulatory processes will be combined to interpret experimental results and to develop novel, experimentally testable hypotheses. These methods will also be used to study the regulation of neural activity in the developing retina, an important model system for neural development and neurodegenerative disorders. This project will therefore not only advance our basic understanding of regulation of neural activity during development, but also help to understand the origins of developmental and degenerative neurological disorders. Additionally, computational models can help to reduce the number of animals required for research.