CNI Speaker Series: Kanaka Rajan

Kanaka Rajan
Neurophysics and Neuroengineering
Princeton University

How do neural circuits generate behavior?

Behavior arises from neural circuits that are enormously complex dynamic systems. A major goal in neuroscience is to characterize the essential components of these dynamics and to understand how they are generated by the biophysics of neurons and synapses. Toward this goal, I will describe network models that reveal basic features of neural circuit function. In one example, a model of posterior parietal cortex based on calcium imaging data is used to identify the degree of synaptic modification required to generate sequential neural activity through a novel mechanism involving a mixture of input-driven and internal dynamics. In a second example, a model of evidence accumulation reveals an unexpected nonlinear transformation in the representation of the integrated signal, a result verified by comparison with behavioral data. I will also discuss how the development of these models is informed by contributions I have made to random matrix theory and by the use of statistical physics to analyze network dynamics.


A pizza lunch will be served.