Connectionists: PhD position in the Blue Brain Project, Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne (EPFL)

[Ramaswamy Srikanth]

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PhD position in the Blue Brain Project - Department of In Silico Neuroscience
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Project title: Digital Reconstruction of Cholinergic Neuromodulation of Neocortical Microcircuitry

Supervisors: Dr. Srikanth Ramaswamy, Prof. Henry Markram

Keywords: Neocortex, microcircuits, simulation, neuromodulation, acetylcholine, dendrites, synaptic transmission, network activity

Project description:  Neuromodulators are chemical messengers - hormones, neuropeptides, and neurotransmitters - that diffusely target neurons and synapses in specific brain regions. Distinct groups of neurons located in subcortical areas release neuromodulators such as acetylcholine (ACh), noradrenaline, serotonin, dopamine, and histamine. These neuromodulators directly control information processing in neocortical microcircuits by modulating shifts between activity states such as sleep and wakefulness, or distraction and attention. Neuromodulators are also directly implicated in a spectrum of debilitating disorders such as migraine, schizophrenia, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease. Yet, despite their crucial role in physiology and pathology, we lack a detailed understanding of the way they regulate the function of dendrites, synapses, neurons, and network activity in neocortical microcircuitry.

The objective of the proposed PhD project will be to devise, implement and study biophysical models of ACh neuromodulation of neocortical microcircuitry. The project will leverage the Blue Brain Project’s data-driven digital reconstruction of neocortical microcircuitry1, 2, and augment it with biophysical models of the anatomy and physiology of ACh neuromodulation of somatosensory cortex. Specifically, the project will implement and constrain cellular and synaptic models of ACh neuromodulation and study its regulation of cortical activity states. The project requires active collaboration with the Laboratory of Neural Microcircuitry (LNMC), EPFL to design neurophysiological experiments in thenrodent somatosensory syetem and integrate relevant data into the digital reconstruction. Significant computing resources on a large high performance computing system will be made available for this project.

1. Markram, H.*, Muller, E.*, Ramaswamy, S.*, Reimann, M.* et al. (2015). Reconstruction and Simulation of Neocortical Microcircuitry. Cell 163:2, 456-495. * Co-first author.

2. Ramaswamy S.*, Courcol J-D.*, Abdellah M., Adaszewski S.R., Antille N. et al. (2015). The Neocortical Microcircuit Collaboration Portal: A Resource for Rat Somatosensory Cortex. Front. Neural Circuits 9:44. *Co-first author.

Key collaborators: Dr. Rodrigo Perin (EPFL-LNMC), Ms. Ayah Khubieh (EPFL-LNMC), Dr. Eilif Muller (EPFL-BBP), Dr. Fabien Delalondre (EPFL-BBP), Prof. Felix Schürmann (EPFL-BBP), and Prof. Idan Segev (Hebrew University, Jerusalem).

This project is offered in the context of the EPFL Doctoral School in Neuroscience (EDNE).
Please visit http://phd.epfl.ch/neuroscience-openings for further details, and information on how to apply.
Application Deadline: Nov 15th, 2016.

For further details on the project contact:
Dr. Srikanth Ramaswamy <srikanth.ramaswamy at epfl.ch<mailto:srikanth.ramaswamy at epfl.ch>>


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Dr. Srikanth Ramaswamy

EPFL - Blue Brain Project
Biotech Campus
Chemin des Mines 9
1202 Geneva
Switzerland

Tel: +41 21 693 9633
Fax: +41 21 693 5350
www: https://people.epfl.ch/srikanth.ramaswamy

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