Objective
Research objectives and content
My Fellowship proposal consists in the development and use of information theoretic techniques to understand how information is represented by neurons in the cerebral cortex. To this purpose, I will develop methods for a rigorous measure of the information encoded in neuronal spike trains. I have already published original results on this subject for single neurons. The aim of my Fellowship is to develop new techniques for analyzing the information contained ib the firing of populations of neurons, by working in a laboratory in which the neurophysiological data are being obtained. I will apply these methods to new data, obtained in the host lab, consisting of the activity of neurons recorded in three different cortical areas of primates (IT cortex, Hippocampus, and Orbitofrontal Cortex). The main objective is the understanding of i) how information is encoded by single neurons responding to natural time-varying stimuli ii) how populations of cortical neurons represent information; iii) how much information is carried by neurons, when compared to the maximal information that can be conveyed under the same constraints (i.e. the study of the efficiency of the representation). This study will allow a better understanding of how the representation of information in different brain regions is adapted to the task each performs, since the analysis will be systematically applied to different cortical networks performing different functions. Training content (objective, benefit and expected impact)
The impact of this training for my career will be decisive. In fact Oxford is a place in Europe which can guarantee the presence of very good Departments of Experimental Psychology, Theoretical Physics and a Centre for Cognitive Neuroscience. I will need to stay two years in Oxford to improve my background in Neurophysiology and become fully independent in Neuroscience, as I am now trained in Statistical Physics. The training of scientists with a solid research experience in both Physics and neuroscience will be important for the future development of computational neuroscience in Europe, and for the development of Neuroinformatics in Europe..
Links with industry / industrial relevance (22)
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- natural sciences biological sciences zoology mammalogy primatology
- natural sciences biological sciences neurobiology cognitive neuroscience
- social sciences psychology
- natural sciences biological sciences neurobiology computational neuroscience
- natural sciences physical sciences theoretical physics
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Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
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Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Coordinator
OX1 3UD OXFORD
United Kingdom
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.