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There is now a CONTENT FREEZE for Mercury while we switch to a new platform. It began on Friday, March 10 at 6pm and will end on Wednesday, March 15 at noon. No new content can be created during this time, but all material in the system as of the beginning of the freeze will be migrated to the new platform, including users and groups. Functionally the new site is identical to the old one. webteam@gatech.edu
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BioE Ph.D. Thesis Proposal
Haejun Han
Tuesday, July 13, 2021, 10:00 AM EST
Link: https://bluejeans.com/6742648471
Advisor:
Hang Lu, Ph.D.
School of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology
Committee Members:
Ghassan AlRegib, Ph.D.
School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology
Patrick McGrath, Ph.D.
School of Biological Sciences, Georgia Institute of Technology
Eva Dyer, Ph.D.
Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology
Oliver Hobert, Ph.D.
Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics, Columbia University
Investigating the influence of structural connectivity of nervous system on circuit-level neuronal activity and behavior of C. elegans
Structural connectivity in the brain is undoubtedly the basis of functional connectivity and behavior of animals. However, the relationship between those three components is rarely studied at the individual level. This study aims to develop experimental and analytic frameworks to investigate these relationships in roundworm, Caenorhabditis elegans to answer an important biological question: does the individuality in neuronal activity and behavior come from the variation in structural connectivity? In aim 1, a deep learning-based image restoration pipeline will be developed to enable the low-resolution functional imaging of neural activity of freely behaving animals. In aim 2, a computational software will be developed to facilitate the automated segmentation and extensive quantification of synapse images. By putting these computational pipelines together, with previously established microfluidic devices, the question above will be addressed in the context of the noxious chemical avoidance response of C. elegans. This work will contribute to a better understanding of how much the variation in brain structure translates to the functional connectivity and behavior on an individual level.
