Speakers

Alain Nogaret obtained a PhD (Summa cum Laude) in quantum electronics from Georgia Tech. and the High Magnetic Field Laboratory in Grenoble, followed by a postdoc in the group of Prof. Laurence Eaves FRS at the University of Nottingham. AN’s group studies neuromorphic devices that make constructive use of nonlinearity in analogue neurons and networks to engineer adaptive bioelectronics. The small neural networks, which we have built, have been shown to restore the rhythmic patterns produced by medullary central pattern generators in-vivo. This approach to neurostimulation has demonstrated novel therapy for chronic cardiorespiratory disease. We also use physical networks as analogue computers to simulate and understand fundamental nonlinear science relating to the emergence of synchronization. For example, our experiments provide new understanding of neural binding by interneurons of the visual cortex. AN has developed mathematical/computational tools relying on the large-scale assimilation of electrophysiologial data to build accurate models of neurons and networks. In collaboration with UCSD colleagues, our group has been one of the first to extract the hidden kinetic and threshold parameters of ionic gates in biological neurons and to predict the oscillations of the neuron membrane voltage to arbitrary current stimulation.