Mission

To build a simplified model of the whole brain and use it to develop applications in medicine and engineering.

Philosophy

Our philosophy of modeling any subsystem in the brain is captured by the following triple formula:

Simplify – Unify – Apply

Simplify: Create a model of a given brain structure that is the simplest possible, to the point that any further simplification will render it useless or absurd.

Unify: Once the model is created it will be used to provide a unified explanation to diverse phenomena associated with that brain structure.

Apply: The model thus developed will be used to simulate disease conditions associated with the corresponding brain structure. The disease model is used to develop clinical applications.

Goal

The holy grail of all our efforts is to build a simplified whole brain model called the MESOBRAIN. This model will be a prototype of the brain with only about 1 to 10 million neurons. The model will be realized by generic, trainable oscillatory neural networks that can be applied to a wide range of neurobiological phenomena including sensory function (vision, speech and touch), motor function, language and decision making. The MESOBRAIN model can drive agents like robots, drones, underwater vehicles etc. Hardware realizations of the MESOBRAIN will also be ultimately explored.

Organization

The CNS lab is organized into Teams. Each team works on one topic with well-defined goals. Please visit the Teams page to know more.