WEDNESDAY, April 7, 2004
Time: 2:00 - 3:00 PM
Room BAL 216

Sharon Crook
Department of Mathematics and Statistics
University of Maine

In the neuroscience community, there is great interest in the biophysical mechanisms underlying the oscillatory properties of networks of cortical cells. In particular, there are many questions about which properties encourage synchrony, traveling waves of oscillations or other phase-shifts in phase-locked activity that may be computationally significant. I will show how coupled oscillator models which use a single phase variable to approximate the voltage oscillation of each neuron during repetitive firing can be used to examine the effects of different biophysical mechanisms on network dynamics. In these models, the network dynamics depend on the type of connectivity and the interaction function chosen to describe the coupling among cells. I will apply this type of network model to study the possible effects of spike frequency adaptation and will also examine the behavior of networks that are connected by both inhibitory chemical synapses and gap junctions.