[Comp-neuro] PhD in “Signatures of cortical coding by neural ensembles” at University of Manchester, Faculty of Life Sciences

PhD in "Signatures of cortical coding by neural ensembles".
Applications are invited for this fully-funded PhD position (fees and
salary) in the lab of Dr Mark Humphries in the Faculty of Life
Science, University of Manchester

Deadline: December 7th 2012 [5 pm GMT]
Start date: September 2013
Duration: 3 or 4 years, depending on qualifications
Eligibility: Candidates must be nationals of the UK or other EU country

The PhD research programme will tackle the problem of testing theories
of cortical coding and computation by groups of neurons. It is thought
that the co-ordinated activity of groups of neurons – "neural
ensembles" – are the basic element of cortical computation,
underpinning sensation, cognition, and action. However, there are
competing, high-profile theories that differ in their accounts of how
cortical ensembles form during learning, how they encode information,
and how they are used during behaviour. Each thus makes differing
predictions about how they would appear over learning or appear during
subsequent use in performance. However, due to the fiercely demanding
technical challenges of the required analyses, these theories have not
been tested against each other using experimental data. This project
will provide the first such test of these theories, developing
state-of-the-art multi-neuron analysis methods from the Humphries'
lab, and applying them to cortical recordings from animals performing
a range of decision making tasks.

The PhD candidate will join a newly established research group that
tackles the challenging problems of how to make sense of the deluge of
circuit-wide neural activity data, from cortical cell assemblies to
invertebrate central pattern generators. [For background on the
methodology see: Humphries (2011) Spike-train communities: finding
groups of similar spike-trains. J Neurosci, 31, 2321-2336]

For more details and to apply please visit:
http://www.ls.manchester.ac.uk/people/profile/Default.aspx?personid=26316&view=projects#1084

Informal enquiries: mark.humphries@manchester.ac.uk


Dr Mark Humphries
MRC Senior non-Clinical Research Fellow
AV Hill Building
Faculty of Life Sciences
University of Manchester


--
Dr M D Humphries
MRC Senior Non-Clincal Research Fellow @ Faculty of Life Sciences,
University of Manchester, UK
Honorary Research Fellow @ Department of Psychology, University of Sheffield, UK
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