Originally published on craneium.net

The visual system is fundamental to how we perceive, process, and act on information in our every day lives. The study of the visual system is particularly challenging as quantification of neural dynamics require the capture of information at simultaneously high spatial and temporal resolutions. These simultaneous demands make voltage sensitive dye imaging (VSDI) a particularly powerful tool to study these phenomenon, as it allows for the capture of activity below the scales possible by fMRI and EEG.

This resolution comes with several tradeoffs and technical challenges. Most notably, VSDI signals are marred by several different sources of noise which drastically complicate signal acquisition. Many of these noise sources are physically driven, including illumination, shot, and electrical noise sources, but the more difficult ones are biologically based, specifically heart-beat, respiration, and other hemodynamic artifacts. In addition to that there exists actual neural noise which may be relevant to perceptual decision making.

VSDI is a relatively new technique, and there are few well established methods for analysis and quantification of both the signal and noise sources inherent to the method. I am interested in both the simulation and modeling of both the voltage sensitive dye imaging (VSDI) method, and the actual underlying cortical dynamics it seeks to measure. Co-advising from Dr. Seidemann and Dr. Geisler has gives me excellent resources in both the biological underpinnings of of a new technique, as well as the theoretical and computational aspects of the problem. I hope to primarily focus on algorithms which separate, quantify, and explain these systems, with the ultimate goal of advancing the understanding of the visual system as a whole.