PhD Studentships in Computational Neuroscience of Bipolar Disorder

Location: Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada

Starting Date: September 2022 (with an option to start earlier)

Our Group: The Computational Psychiatry Lab at Dalhousie University seeks to understand the neurocomputational basis of bipolar disorder and related conditions. Our work involves computational modeling of neural systems, as well as development and application of machine learning methods for analyses of biomedical data. We work with some of the world’s largest data sets concerning genomic, brain imaging, and clinical features of patients with bipolar disorder and their families.

Opportunity Description: We are building computational models of episodic memory function in bipolar disorder. These projects involve several stages. First, we are developing compartmental models of dentate gyrus granule cells and CA3 pyramidal cells based on electrophysiological data from induced pluripotent stem-cell (iPSC) derived neurons in humans. Second, we are constructing biophysical network models of dentate gyrus and CA3 fields to study the effect of neuronal abnormalities on pattern separation and pattern completion functions in BD. Finally, we are building more abstract deep learning-based models to simulate performance on neuropsychological paradigms of declarative memory. Successful applicants will gain

• Skill in modeling biological and behavioural data using biophysical and artificial neural networks
• The opportunity to work with electrophysiological data from human iPSC-derived neurons
• The opportunity to work with one of the largest neuropsychological datasets in bipolar disorder research

Co-Supervisors: Drs. Abraham Nunes and Thomas Trappenberg

Prerequisites:

• Minimum of a master’s degree in computer science, neuroscience, engineering, mathematics, physics or related discipline
• Proficiency with Python, Julia, MATLAB, or equivalent
• Familiarity with basic, cognitive, or computational neuroscience is highly valuable
• Experience with NEURON, Brian2, Nengo, or related framework is highly valuable
• Experience with neural networks and deep learning are highly valuable

APPLYING: You are encouraged to contact Dr. Nunes (nunes@dal.ca) or Dr. Trappenberg (tt@cs.dal.ca) if you are interested in applying and for any informal enquiries. See Dalhousie Faculty of Graduate Studies for applications details and deadlines.