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Armen
Stepanyants
Assistant Professor
PhD University of Rhode Island, 1999
(617)373-2944
a.stepanyants@neu.edu |
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Research
Summary:
My
main scientific interests are in the area of theoretical
neuroscience. My research is aimed at understanding connectivity
principles in the human brain. This is one of the oldest
and most important challenges in neuroscience. Unraveling
connectivity is complicated in part by the fact that the
human brain presents a highly interconnected network of
about a hundred billion neurons. The geometry of neuronal
arbors can provide valuable clues to the solution of the
connectivity problem. By analyzing shapes of cortical
neurons I attempt to answer a number of important questions:
1. Is there potential for the reorganization of neuronal
circuits in the adult brain? 2. What are the substrates
of specificity and randomness in neuronal connectivity?
3. Is the cortex optimally designed to store information
in synaptic connectivity patterns? The answers to these
basic questions will improve our understanding of essential
brain functions, such as learning and memory.
Recent Publications :
Stepanyants, A., Hirsch, J.A., Martinez, L.M., Kisvárday, Z.F., Ferecskó, A.S., and Chklovskii, D.B., Local Potential Connectivity in Cat Primary Visual Cortex, Cerebral Cortex (2007).
Stepanyants, A. and Chklovskii, D.B., Neurogeometry and Potential Synaptic Connectivity, Trends in Neuroscience 28(7): 387-394 (2005).
*Shepherd, G.M.G., *Stepanyants, A., Bureau, I., Chklovskii, D.B., Svoboda, K., Geometric and functional organization of cortical circuits, Nature Neuroscience 8(6): 782-790 (2005).
Stepanyants, A., Tamás, G., and Chklovskii, D.B., Class-specific Features of Neuronal Wiring, Neuron 43: 251-259 (2004).
Stepanyants, A., Hof, P.R., and Chklovskii, D.B., Geometry and structural plasticity of synaptic connectivity. Neuron 34: 275-288 (2002).
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