9309169 Dayhoff This Career Advancement Award is made to Judith Dayhoff to study neural computations on ensembles and intercellular signaling. Extracellular multiunit signals contain significant temporal structure, such as multiunit synchronies, and the PI plans to extend and apply methods for identification of timing relationships in multiunit recordings. On identification of timing relationships in multiunit recording, the PI plans to implement and characterize a new analysis technique that detects synchronous activity in ensembles of neurons. This will focus on nerve impulse trains and the temporal placement of nerve impulses with respect to one another. The time relationships to be identified are important because synchronously firing groups are candidate mechanisms for neural coding, representation, and processing. The project includes the implementation of a new fast calculation method for the detection of synchronous firing in simultaneous nerve impulse trains, and validation of the new computation methods and characterization of its sensitivity to temporal structure in simulated data. The techniques will then be exported to laboratories actively engaged in mulitunit neural recording. As follow-on work, this project will stimulate collaborations between the PI and experimental laboratories where mulitunit recording is taking place. ***
