The School of Science at TCNJ is honored to host distinguished, interdisciplinary scientist Dr. Larry Abbott for our Spring 2016 Colloquium Series, on Tuesday, February 23, 2016, from 12:30-1:30 pm in the Education Building, room 212. The lecture will be followed by lunch reception.
Dr. Abbott is the William Bloor Professor of Theoretical Neurosceince and Co-Director of the Center for Theoretical Neuroscience at Columbia University. In a talk entitled “Sense for Randomness in Neural Circuits,” Dr. Abbott will discuss why many neural circuits are interconnected with remarkable precision, but others appear to be wired randomly.
“Sense for Randomness in Neural Circuits”
- Tuesday, February 23, 2016
- 12:30-1:30 pm, lunch reception to follow
- Education Building, Room 212
Presentation Overview
Many neural circuits are interconnected with remarkable precision, but others appear to be wired randomly. How extensive is randomness and how can randomly connected circuits perform useful functions? I will address these questions using experimental data and models
About Larry Abbott
Larry Abbott is the William Bloor Professor of Theoretical Neuroscience at Columbia University. He received his PhD in physics from Brandeis University in 1977, and worked in theoretical particle physics at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center, CERN, the European center for particle physics, and Brandeis. Abbott began his transition to neuroscience research in 1989, joined the Biology Department at Brandeis in 1993 and was the director of the Volen Center at Brandeis from 1997-2002. In 2005, he joined the faculty of Columbia University where he is currently a member of the Departments of Neuroscience and of Physiology and Cellular Biophysics and co-director of the Center for Theoretical Neuroscience. Abbott is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, a recipient of an NIH Directors Pioneer Award, and was awarded the Swartz Prize for Theoretical Neuroscience in 2010 and the Mathematical Neuroscience Prize in 2013. His research involves the computational modeling and mathematical analysis of neurons and neural networks.
For More Information:
- Larry Abbott’s Website
- Center for Theoretical Neuroscience, Columbia University
- TCNJ Department of Mathematics & Statistics
