BioE Ph.D. Thesis Proposal

Haejun Han

Tuesday, July 13, 2021, 10:00 AM EST 

Link: https://bluejeans.com/6742648471

Advisor: 

Hang Lu, Ph.D.

School of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology

Committee Members:  

Ghassan AlRegib, Ph.D.

School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology

Patrick McGrath, Ph.D.

School of Biological Sciences, Georgia Institute of Technology

Eva Dyer, Ph.D.

Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology

Oliver Hobert, Ph.D.

Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics, Columbia University

Investigating the influence of structural connectivity of nervous system on circuit-level neuronal activity and behavior of C. elegans

Structural connectivity in the brain is undoubtedly the basis of functional connectivity and behavior of animals. However, the relationship between those three components is rarely studied at the individual level. This study aims to develop experimental and analytic frameworks to investigate these relationships in roundworm, Caenorhabditis elegans to answer an important biological question: does the individuality in neuronal activity and behavior come from the variation in structural connectivity? In aim 1, a deep learning-based image restoration pipeline will be developed to enable the low-resolution functional imaging of neural activity of freely behaving animals. In aim 2, a computational software will be developed to facilitate the automated segmentation and extensive quantification of synapse images. By putting these computational pipelines together, with previously established microfluidic devices, the question above will be addressed in the context of the noxious chemical avoidance response of C. elegans. This work will contribute to a better understanding of how much the variation in brain structure translates to the functional connectivity and behavior on an individual level.