The PI, whose main area of research has been analytical and computational fluid dynamics, has recently started working with experimental neuroscientists. These neuroscientists are studying the question of orientation tuning in the mammalian visual cortex, a problem of long-standing neurobiological interest. In this collaboration, the PI has proposed mathematical models for the problem and has obtained both analytical and numerical results for the models. These results are then compared to the experimental results. By making such a comparison, they find what aspects of the model produce what types of behavior. This then suggests what types of mechanisms might be present or absent at various levels of the visual cortex. The funds from this interdisciplinary grant will help the PI continue the present collaboration, start new collaborations, and broaden and deepen her background in the neurosciences. The PI will spend the year at New York University's Center for Neural Science.
This IGMS project is jointly supported by the MPS Office of Multidisciplinary Activities (OMA) and the Division of Mathematical Sciences (DMS).
