The Biophysics of Neural Computation group led by Fleur Zeldenrust is looking for a PhD candidate to investigate the relation between single neuron properties and neural network function using neural network models.

You will develop models of the barrel cortex, the part of the rodent brain that processes information from the whiskers. Rodents use their whiskers (more than other sensory systems) to solve real-world problems such as navigation, object localisation and texture discrimination. Neurons in the barrel cortex show strong threshold adaptation, which is influenced by neuromodulators like dopamine. Research by our department has recently shown that both this adaptation and the effects of dopamine are very different between excitatory and inhibitory neurons. The PhD candidate will investigate the functional role of this threshold adaptation: how does it affect how precise and efficient sensory information is represented in the activity of the neurons? And what is the effect of dopamine on this network processing? We will investigate this using different connectivity structures, using a biophysical model of the barrel cortex we recently developed, as well as various theoretical networks, including balanced random networks. Our conclusions will be validated against data from in vitro experiments. We will collaborate with Rena Bakhshi and Dafne van Kuppevelt from the Netherlands eScience Center (www.esciencecenter.nl/) for model validation techniques.

For more information see: https://www.ru.nl/werken-bij/vacature/details-vacature/?recid=1128866
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