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My overall research interest is the processing and transformation of
information within the nervous system. The long-term ambition being to
understand the processes and principles which underlie the distribution and
function of signalling systems within the architecture of the cell, and
determine its fate.
The
overarching theme of my research over recent years has been the search for ways
to extract pragmatically useful knowledge from the wealth of attainable
neuroscience information. This is a central theme in many fields where new
technologies generate vast data sets but understanding is lagging. Core to this theme is the modeling of function and dysfunction at a number of levels
of abstraction.
This
is exemplified in the development and use of organotypic cultures of rodent
brain for modeling neuropathology. This system
retains synaptic connectivity, cell type diversity and electrical activity in a
controlled in-vitro system.
(McManus et al 2004; Sadgrove et al 2006).
This work is part of a long-standing collaboration with colleagues in the
Clinical Neurosciences department combining our imaging and tissue-culturing expertises to allow analysis of neuronal function. The
success of this work has translated into a spin-out company, Capsant
Neurotechnologies, that we co-founded in 2002, and with which we continue to
collaborate in the development of new models of neuropathologies.
A
fascinating parallel development has arisen out of collaborations with
colleagues in Electronics and Computing where we have sought to model the
computational function of neurones as cellular automata. The central theme is
the notion that the computational function of a neurone is a stable outcome of
the cellular regulatory processes. If this posit holds, then it becomes possible
to attempt to abstract the computational function and test through modeling the degree to which the system behaviour has been
captured (Claverol et al 2002a,b). This cellular automata approach holds
out the promise of allowing the computation of the behaviour of very large cell
assemblages in order to look for emergent behaviours. An additional spin-off of
using a hardware description language to define the automata has been the
possibility of translating these automata into physical devices that combine processing
and memory and could become an alternative form of computer architecture. This
work has a way to go before its utility can be truly evaluated.
To
come full circle, the testing of the automata concept with arrays of cultured
real neurones on MEAs has now become possible because of technological
developments within Capsant that should allow us to characterize the circuit
formation inherent in a given cell type in the absence of the normal long-range
developmental cues. This is now part of a collaborative CASE project.
Interest in the control of neuronal excitability, information transfer,
and the role of Ca++ signalling led to the adoption
of optical imaging techniques. Principally, the adoption of Confocal laser
Scanning Microscopy. This powerful technique allows for the quantitative
determination of the 3-D distribution of fluorescent molecules to a resolution
of 300nm. We are exploiting this system to study neuronal structure and
function within functional brain slices.
The multitude of possible uses for confocal microscopy in the biological
sciences has led to a number of fruitful collaborations extending
beyond the neurosciences.
Confocal Images of Neuronal Morphology
Hopefully (in my dreams), these strands will come
together to help us begin to understand the self-organising principles that I
believe must underlie the function of the CNS.