[Amath-seminars] Boeing Seminar - Thursday May 20 - Nancy Kopell

[Eli Shlizerman]

Dear All,

Our last (but definitely not the least) Boeing Distinguished lecture
of the year, by Nancy Kopell from Boston University, will take place
this Thursday, May 20, at 4:00 pm at Guggenheim Hall room 220.

Please join us for a reception afterwards on the 4th floor of Guggenheim.

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Nancy Kopell of Boston U. will deliver

       ** Gamma, beta and cell assemblies: brain rhythms from
physiology to function **

as part of Applied Math's Boeing Distinguished Colloquia series.

DATE AND TIME:  *** THURSDAY MAY 20 4-5 PM ***
LOCATION:  220 GUGGENHEIM HALL (Near Drumheller fountain).

Abstract:  It has been known for a long time that the brain can
produce rhythmic patterns of electrical activity, and that these can
be associated with cognitive activity.  However, it remains
controversial whether these rhythms participate in cognition, or
simply reflect processes that happen during cognition.  To make the
case that rhythms are functionally important, it is necessary to
understand the mechanisms by which the rhythms alter processing in the
nervous system. This line of research is still in its infancy, but
there is enough to see how such arguments might work.  This talk
focuses on the gamma (35 -90 Hz) and beta (12-30 Hz) frequency bands,
using models to show how the differences in physiology underlying at
least some versions of those brain rhythms have different and
complementary properties with respect to the creation and interaction
of cell assemblies,  providing a framework for understanding a variety
of data.

More about the speaker:  http://cbd.bu.edu/members/nkopell.html