A theoretical physicist by training, my research is centered around intelligent machines. I do both theoretical and experimental work. The theoretical work is focussed on analyzing distributed/networked algorithms in the context of control theory and machine learning, using tools from statistical physics. My lab is involved in brain-wide mesoscale circuit mapping in the Mouse as well as in the Marmoset. An organizing idea behind my research is that there may be common underlying mathematical principles that constrain evolved biological systems and human-engineered systems.
Partha Mitra is interested in understanding intelligent machines that are products of biological evolution (particularly animal brains), with the basic hypothesis that common underlying principles may govern these “wet” intelligent machines and the “dry” intelligent machines that are transforming the present economy. Dr Mitra initiated the idea of brain-wide mesoscale circuit mapping, and his laboratory is involved in carrying out such mapping in the Mouse (http://mouse.brainarchitecture.org) and the Marmoset (in collaboration with Japanese and Australian scientists at the RIKEN Brain Science Institute and Monash University).
Dr Mitra spent ten years as a member of the theory department at Bell Laboratories and holds a visiting professorship at IIT Madras where he is helping establish the Center for Computational Brain Research. He has an active theoretical research program in machine learning and control theory, wheren he is using tools from statistical physics to analyze the performance of distributed/networked algorithms in the “thermodynamic” limit of many variables.
- Fellow, American Physical Society
- Senior Member, IEEE
- H N Mahabala Chair Professor (visiting), IIT Madras
- Senior Visiting Scientist, RIKEN Brain Science Institute
- George S. Axelby Outstanding Paper Award
Portrait of a Neuroscience Powerhouse
April 27, 2018
At noon every Tuesday from September through June, scenes from a revolution in neuroscience are playing out at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory. Week after week, over 100 scientists cram themselves into a ground-floor meeting room in the Beckman Laboratory. It’s standing-room only as everyone in the Neuroscience Program settles in to hear details of the...
4 CSHL scientists will contribute to President’s BRAIN Initiative under new NIH grants
September 30, 2014
Cold Spring Harbor, NY — Four scientists at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) will perform research in President Obama’s BRAIN Initiative under two new CSHL grants announced in Washington today. The CSHL grants are among more than 100 issued by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), totaling $46 million for the 2014-15 fiscal year. They...
CSHL’s Florin Albeanu, Partha Mitra awarded NSF ‘Early Concept’ grants for neuroscience
August 18, 2014
Cold Spring Harbor, NY — The National Science Foundation (NSF) has awarded Early Concept Grants for Exploratory Research (EAGER) to two Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) neuroscientists. The researchers, Assistant Professor Florin Albeanu and Professor Partha Mitra, are working to develop new technologies that will provide insight into the structure and operation of neural circuits...
For neurons in the brain, identity can be used to predict location
March 24, 2014
A new mathematical model uses gene expression data to predict where neurons are located throughout the brain Cold Spring Harbor, NY — Throughout the world, there are many different types of people, and their identity can tell a lot about where they live. The type of job they work, the kind of car they drive,...
CSHL’s Partha Mitra receives two awards for theoretical work with implications for brain circuitry
December 10, 2013
Cold Spring Harbor, NY — Professor Partha Mitra, the Crick-Clay Professor of Biomathematics at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL), whose laboratory takes both neuroanatomical and theoretical approaches to understanding structural and functional properties of the mammalian brain, is receiving two honors for his recent work. In Florence, Italy on December 12th, Dr. Mitra will receive...
Analysis of 26 networked autism genes suggests functional role in the cerebellum
July 17, 2013
Gene co-expression study is based on data in the Allen Mouse Brain Atlas Cold Spring Harbor, NY – A team of scientists has obtained intriguing insights into two groups of autism candidate genes in the mammalian brain that new evidence suggests are functionally and spatially related. The newly published analysis identifies two networked groupings from...
One experiment: A journey to human biology’s final frontier, the brain
December 1, 2012
Via a Web-based portal built by his lab team—www.mouse.brainarchitecture.org—CSHL Professor Partha Mitra takes us on a journey to the final frontier of human biology, the brain. His team is fast closing in on their goal of providing the first whole-brain circuit map of the mouse. The rationale: to generate a reference wiring diagram to identify...
Neuroscientists reach major milestone in whole-brain circuit mapping project
May 31, 2012
Remarkable imagery enables viewers to journey into the recesses of the mouse brain, following neural connections from end to end Cold Spring Harbor, NY — Neuroscientists at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) reached an important milestone today, publicly releasing the first installment of data from the 500 terabytes so far collected in their pathbreaking project...
Two neuroscientists from Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory awarded “Transformative” NIH Grants
September 24, 2009
Drs. Partha Mitra and Josh Dubnau will use 5-year ‘Transformative R01’ grants for highly innovative brain projects Cold Spring Harbor, NY — Two neuroscientists at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) are among an elite group of only 42 researchers nationwide named by the director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to receive special five-year...
Songbird study provides concrete way of measuring biology’s impact on culture, say CSHL, CCNY scientists
May 5, 2009
Can birds raised in complete isolation evolve “normal” species song over generations? Cold Spring Harbor, NY — During infancy, each of us emerges from a delightful but largely incoherent babble of syllables and learns to speak—normally, in the language of those who care for us. But imagine what would happen if we were somehow raised...
Bamieh, B. and Jovanović, M. R. and Mitra, P. and Patterson, S. (2012) Coherence in large-scale networks: Dimension-dependent limitations of local feedback. IEEE Transactions on Automatic Control, 57(9) pp. 2235-2249.
Feher, O. and Wang, H. and Saar, S. and Mitra, P. P. and Tchernichovski, O. (2009) De novo establishment of wild-type song culture in the zebra finch. Nature, 459(7246) pp. 564-568.
Bohland, J. W. and Wu, C. and Barbas, H. and Bokil, H. and Bota, M. and Breiter, H. C. and Cline, H. T. and Doyle, J. C. and Freed, P. J. and Greenspan, R. J. and Haber, S. N. and Hawrylycz, M. and Herrera, D. G. and Hilgetag, C. C. and Huang, Z. J. and Jones, A. and Jones, E. G. and Karten, H. J. and Kleinfeld, D. and Kotter, R. and Lester, H. A. and Lin, J. M. and Mensh, B. D. and Mikula, S. and Panksepp, J. and Price, J. L. and Safdieh, J. and Saper, C. B. and Schiff, N. D. and Schmahmann, J. D. and Stillman, B. W. and Svoboda, K. and Swanson, L. W. and Toga, A. W. and Van Essen, D. C. and Watson, J. D. and Mitra, P. P. (2009) A proposal for a coordinated effort for the determination of brainwide neuroanatomical connectivity in model organisms at a mesoscopic scale. PLoS Computational Biology, 5(3) pp. e1000334.
Pesaran, B. and Pezaris, J. S. and Sahani, M. and Mitra, P. P. and Andersen, R. A. (2002) Temporal structure in neuronal activity during working memory in macaque parietal cortex. Nature Neuroscience, 5(8) pp. 805-811.
Andrews, M. R. and Mitra, P. P. and Decarvalho, R. (2001) Tripling the capacity of wireless communications using electromagnetic polarization. Nature, 409(6818) pp. 316-318.
Additional materials of the author atCSHL Institutional Repository