Geometry Seminar

Date: September 26, 2016

Time: 3:00PM - 4:00PM

Location: BLOC 220

Speaker: Nida Obatake, Texas A&M University

Title: "Rat GPS" - Drawing Place Field Diagrams of Neural Codes Using Toric Ideals

Abstract: A rat has special neurons that encode its geographic location. These neurons are called place cells and each place cell points to a region in the space, called a place field. Neural codes are collections of the firing patterns of place cells. In this talk, we investigate how to algorithmically draw a place field diagram of a neural code, building on existing work studying neural codes, ideas developed in the field of information visualization, and the toric ideal of a neural code. This talk is based on joint work with Dr. Elizabeth Gross (San Jose State University) and Dr. Nora Youngs (Colby College) [see: arXiv:1607.00697]. Students of all backgrounds (esp. undergrads interested in math research) are welcome and encouraged to attend; no prior knowledge will be assumed for this talk.