Title: Data Mining Methods for Neuroinformatics

Presenter: K.P. Unnikrishnan
     General Motors Research

Date and Time: Tuesday, October 9, 2007, 3:30-4:30 PM

Note: This particular seminar is jointly organized with Center for High End Computing Systems. Please note the date, time and location.

Abstract:
Data Mining involves mathematical theories, statistical techniques, and computational algorithms for pattern discovery from data. Goals of Neuroinformatics are similar, when the data concerns the nervous system. We describe methods to discover structural properties of complex, dynamical networks from observed data streams. By discovering structures in multi-neuronal spike trains, we are able to uncover the functional connectivity (graphical structure) of the underlying neuronal networks and observe their time-evolutions. We have successfully used these methods to analyze multi-channel signals from cortical neurons and are currently using them to understand the C. elegans nervous system. We conclude with a brief discussion of Neural Codes and how Data Mining can help discover them.

About the speaker: Dr. K.P. Unnikrishnan received the PhD degree in Physics (biophysics) from Syracuse. University, Syracuse, New York, in 1987. He is currently a staff research scientist at the General Motors R&D Center, Warren, Michigan. Before joining GM, he was a postdoctoral member of the technical staff at AT&T Bell Laboratories, Murray Hill, New Jersey. He has also been an adjunct assistant professor at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, a visiting associate at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), Pasadena, and a visiting scientist at the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore. His research interests concern neural computation in sensory systems, correlation-based algorithms for learning and adaptation, dynamical neural networks, and temporal data mining and most recently, discovering the neural code.
Seminar Location: This joint seminar is held at:
    NDSSL Conference Room, Virginia Tech, Corporate Research Center
    1880 Pratt Drive, Building XV
    


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