Spike Train Analysis Network

大脑的计算能力远远超过当前的计算机技术，但使用非常不同的底层硬件。为了理解大脑如何实现其计算性能，我们需要了解信息是如何被大脑细胞（神经元）网络编码、操纵和存储的。实验学家现在已经开发出记录小群体神经元（5-50个细胞）输出活动的能力，这被称为尖峰序列。然而，分析方法来解释这个庞大的数据流已经跟不上我们的能力来记录它。尖峰列车分析是一个特别具有挑战性的问题，因为它需要数学家，统计学家，计算机科学家和神经科学家之间的多学科合作。没有任何一个中心拥有足够数量的必要学科。在这个应用程序中，我们试图创建一个网络，汇集了来自英国和海外许多中心的专家。该网络将创建一个虚拟社区，超越机构和学科界限。网络成员将以小组形式会面，以解决尖峰列车分析中的重点问题，启动富有成效的合作。该网络网站将为辩论和讨论提供一个论坛，便于交流想法和分析代码。该网络将主办每月一次的系列研讨会，由该领域的专家介绍他们的工作。这些研讨会将通过互联网向所有网络成员广播。这些研讨会不仅是讨论各种想法的一个有用的竞技场，而且还将建立一种对虚拟学术界的归属感。一年两次的通讯将以印刷品和电子形式广泛分发，向更广泛的社区宣传网络活动。最后，每年将举办大师班，向实验神经科学家传播尖峰序列分析的先进方法。该奖项将建立一个充满活力的研究社区，开展尖峰序列分析的前沿研究。这项研究的结果将积极传播给实验神经科学家，使高质量的先进分析工具的使用成为常态。随后的进展将导致对大脑如何处理和存储信息的新理解。这在生产新型计算架构和解决大脑功能障碍的医疗条件方面具有潜在的应用。

The brain has computational abilities far exceeding current computer technology, but uses a very different underlying hardware. In order to understand how the brain achieves its computational performance, we need to understand how information is coded, manipulated and stored by networks of brain cells (neurones). Experimentalists have now developed the ability to record the output activity of small populations of neurones (5-50 cells), which are known as spike trains. However, analysis methods to interpret this massive data stream have not kept up with our ability to record it.Spike train analysis is an especially challenging problem, as it requires multi-disciplinary collaboration between mathematicians, statisticians, computer scientists and neuroscientists. No single centre has a critical mass of the necessary disciplines. In this application, we seek to create a network bringing together experts from many centres in the UK and overseas. The network will create a virtual community, transcending both institutional as well as discipline boundaries. Network members will meet in small groups to address focussed problems in spike train analysis, initiating productive collaborations. The network website will provide a forum for debate and discussion, permitting easy sharing of ideas and analysis code. The network will host a monthly seminar series, in which experts in the field will present their work. These seminars will be broadcast via the internet to all network members. As well as acting as a useful arena for the discussion of ideas, these seminars will build the sense of belonging to a virtual academic community. A biannual newsletter, circulated widely in print and electronically, will promote network activities to the wider community. Finally, master classes will be run annually to disseminate advanced methods of spike train analysis to experimental neuroscientists.This award will build a vibrant research community, carrying out cutting-edge research in spike train analysis. The results of this research will be actively disseminated to experimental neuroscientists, such that use of high quality advanced analytical tools becomes the norm. The subsequent advances will lead to new understanding of how the brain processes and stores information. This has potential applications in producing novel computing architectures, and in addressing medical conditions where the brain malfunctions.