Thesis Project Form
Title (tentative): Ultrasonic in vivo neuromodulation techniques with optical recording| Thesis advisor(s): Raiteri Roberto, Shy Shoham | E-mail: |
| Address: Via Opera pia 11a 16145 Genova | Phone: (+39) 010 33 52762 |
Description
Motivation and application domain
Transcranial Ultrasound Stimulation (TUS) can noninvasively and reversibly perturb neuronal activity, but the mechanisms by which ultrasound engages brain circuits to induce functional effects remain unclear. To elucidate these interactions, TUS can be applied to the cortex of awake mice and concurrently local neural activity at the acoustic focus can be monitored with two-photon calcium imaging. Understanding the working mechanism of TUS on brain cells will allow to develop efficient neuromodulation techniques to be applied in different neurological pathologies
General objectives and main activities
The main objectives of this work are:
- improve the experimental setup for in vivo TUS stimulation and calcium imaging
· collect experimental data
- extend the computational model of circuit mechanisms, including detailed aspects of cortical microcircuits, and validate it against the experimental data
Activities will include both experimental work and the development of software algorithms based on e.g. Machine Learning techniques
- improve the experimental setup for in vivo TUS stimulation and calcium imaging
· collect experimental data
- extend the computational model of circuit mechanisms, including detailed aspects of cortical microcircuits, and validate it against the experimental data
Activities will include both experimental work and the development of software algorithms based on e.g. Machine Learning techniques
Training Objectives (technical/analytical tools, experimental methodologies)
Place(s) where the thesis work will be carried out: Langone Health’s Tech4Health Institute, New York University
Additional information
Maximum number of students: 1