Theoretical and Computational Neuroscience
The discoveries made by traditional neuroscientists result from experiments with living tissue. In contrast, theoretical and computational neuroscientists use mathematics to describe how the brain works. Much of Dmitri (Mitya) Chklovski's theoretical neuroscience research is based on the idea that biology and evolution impose several design constraints on the structure of the nervous system. For example, scientists have long believed that neurons are positioned and connected in the brain in such a way as to minimize the length–and hence the volume–of wiring.
Mitya has developed a mathematical formulation of this "wiring economy" principle that enables several predictions to be made about how neurons are connected to each other in the brain. Mitya's "wire length minimization" model corresponds closely with the observed properties of the mammalian visual cortex, a brain region that processes visual information. The human brain contains approximately 300 million feet of wiring packed into a 1.5-quart volume, but the brain would be much larger if it did not employ the strategy Mitya has uncovered for fitting the necessary wiring into the available, limited space.
Recently, Mitya has turned his efforts to understanding the neurological basis of optical illusions. By determining what happens when the brain is tricked, e.g., by an optical illusion, Mitya aims to uncover new principles of brain function.
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