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Biological rhythms: Do they cointegrate?

Project description

Statistical methods for economic trends elucidate interrelationships in neuronal activity

The synchronised and coordinated activity of musicians brings symphonies to life. Similarly, synchronised activity in neurons generates thoughts and actions and has been correlated with information processing connected with functionally relevant tasks. However, what exactly is encoded and transmitted is quite complicated to untangle. Behaviour-dependent rhythmic oscillations (periodic changes in activity at given frequencies) in mammalian cortical neurons have been identified at frequencies spanning five orders of magnitude. The EU-funded BioCointegration project is developing sophisticated statistical analysis tools to answer important open questions regarding rhythmic neuronal oscillations. Cointegration analyses, employed extensively in economics, are used to evaluate whether two or more non-stationary time series – processes whose means and variances change over time – share a common behaviour in the long term. The project is adapting the principles to investigate oscillations in neuronal time–series data.

Objective

Many biological systems can be seen as networks of interconnected oscillating units. Unraveling how they interact, coordinate and influence each other in a random environment is essential for understanding systems such as the dynamic brain. The problem is that the current statistical methods are insufficient for solid data analysis. To solve this problem, I will elaborate the methodology of cointegration analysis, which has been applied mainly in econometrics, to provide a principled statistical framework for analyzing experimental data from neuronal systems. I will work on this project under the supervision of Professor Susanne Ditlevsen at the University of Copenhagen (UCPH).

Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)

Keywords

Programme(s)

Topic(s)

Funding Scheme

MSCA-IF - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships (IF)

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Call for proposal

(opens in new window) H2020-MSCA-IF-2019

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Coordinator

KOBENHAVNS UNIVERSITET
Net EU contribution
€ 207 312,00
Address
NORREGADE 10
1165 KOBENHAVN
Denmark
Region
Danmark Hovedstaden Byen København
Activity type
Higher or Secondary Education Establishments
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Total cost
€ 207 312,00