Computational tools

…Responsibilities include developing computational tools and participating in the team’s scientific activities. Applicants need doctoral-level mathematical research skills, knowledge of the relevant literature, SageMath or Maple, and fluent English. Appointment: 6 months; advertised start 2027-02-01.

The Theories, Models and Methods (TMM) initiative will support the development of computational tools for understanding dynamic brain circuits that are made broadly accessible to the greater research community. This program supports applications focused on tool building and dissemination in the domain of theories about neural circuit mechanisms, models of circuit structure and function, and/or computational methods of analysis spanning across scales from neurons to behavior. The development of novel theories, computational models and methods for understanding brain function will help character

…tasks and the challenges of using computational tools in medicine. Conversation in Norwegian.

A debate flares up every few years in neuroscience, asking whether the brain is a computer or whether this is “just a metaphor,” or “just semantics.” The question goes back a long way, and has probably been more common in philosophical than neuroscientific circles. But a recent Frontiers special issue raised the debate again, and exemplified its different sides perfectly. One side argues that the brain is a computer because it satisfies computer science’s definition of “computer,” and therefore neuroscience is right to conceptualize it that way (Richards & Lillicrap, 2022). The other side argu

Brains must integrate complex sensory information and compare to past events to generate appropriate behavioral responses. The neural circuit basis of these computations is unclear and the underlying structure unknown. Here, we mapped the comprehensive synaptic wiring diagram of the fruit fly larva brain, which contains 3,013 neurons and 544K synaptic sites. It is the most complete insect connectome to date: 1) Both brain hemispheres are reconstructed, allowing investigation of neural pathways that include contralateral axons, which we found in 37% of brain neurons. 2) All sensory neurons and

The human brain is a complex network of neuronal connections. The precise arrangement of these connections, otherwise known as the topology of the network, is crucial to its functioning. Recent efforts to understand how the complex topology of the brain has emerged have used generative mathematical models, which grow synthetic networks according to specific wiring rules. Evidence suggests that a wiring rule which emulates a trade-off between connection costs and functional benefits can produce networks that capture essential topological properties of brain networks. In this webinar, Professor