{"691796":{"#nid":"691796","#data":{"type":"event","title":"PhD Defense by Zach Mobille","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EIn partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EDoctor of Philosophy in Quantitative Biosciences\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003Ein the School of Mathematics\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EZach Mobille\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWill defend his dissertation\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EInformation coding and structural motifs in spiking neural networks\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThursday, August 20, 2026\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAt 2:00pm EST\u003Cbr\u003EPrice Gilbert Room 4222\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EZoom Link:\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/nam12.safelinks.protection.outlook.com\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fgatech.zoom.us%2Fj%2F99536846997%3Fpwd%3DLn6lCHYqhVNaYKgxvLQR9nbbNb9ILZ.1\u0026amp;data=05%7C02%7Cannouncements%40grad.gatech.edu%7C5fd2873015654cc1267608def4818b50%7C482198bbae7b4b258b7a6d7f32faa083%7C1%7C0%7C639217034384181232%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C\u0026amp;sdata=J%2BrBy00DXXFKXxQyhUGITlT93JZwU8ZC4JROwnGGe%2B8%3D\u0026amp;reserved=0\u0022\u003EZach Mobille Defense Link\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EThesis Advisor:\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHannah Choi, Ph.D.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESchool of Mathematics\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ECommittee Members:\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESimon Sponberg, Ph.D.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESchool of Physics \/ School of Biological Sciences\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBilal Haider, Ph.D.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EDepartment of Biomedical Engineering\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology \u0026amp; Emory University\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESamuel Sober, Ph.D.\u003Cbr\u003EDepartment of Biomedical Engineering \/ Department of Biology\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology \u0026amp; Emory University\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EFlavio Fenton, Ph.D.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESchool of Physics\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAbstract\u003C\/strong\u003E:\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe nervous systems of animals comprise complex network structures with units that interact nonlinearly at discrete times of activity, known as action potentials or \u201cspikes\u201d. How the topological network structure of the brain is related to its computational function in the form of precisely-timed spiking dynamics is a subject of ongoing research in computational and systems neuroscience. In this dissertation defense, I use mathematical models and methods to describe and understand the relationship between spiking activity and non-random network structure.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn the first part of my thesis, I will describe how macroscopic cascades of feedforward network convergence, a ubiquitous connectivity motif found in brain areas like the visual system, olfactory system, cerebellum-like circuits, and visuomotor pathways, promotes temporal coding strategies of dynamic stimuli in downstream populations of spiking neurons. In the second part, I will discuss a mean-field theory for the dynamics of 1- and 2-synapse connectivity motifs of excitatory and inhibitory neurons in large recurrent networks that evolve with excitatory and inhibitory spike timing dependent plasticity. Overall, this thesis deepens our understanding of how non-random connectivity and spiking activity are related in ways that reshape information processing in biological neural networks.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":"","format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EInformation coding and structural motifs in spiking neural networks\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Information coding and structural motifs in spiking neural networks"}],"uid":"27707","created_gmt":"2026-08-19 14:34:00","changed_gmt":"2026-08-19 14:34:33","author":"Tatianna Richardson","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","field_event_time":{"event_time_start":"2026-08-20T14:00:00-04:00","event_time_end":"2026-08-20T16:00:00-04:00","event_time_end_last":"2026-08-20T16:00:00-04:00","gmt_time_start":"2026-08-20 18:00:00","gmt_time_end":"2026-08-20 20:00:00","gmt_time_end_last":"2026-08-20 20:00:00","rrule":null,"timezone":"America\/New_York"},"location":"ZOOM","extras":[],"groups":[{"id":"221981","name":"Graduate Studies"}],"categories":[],"keywords":[{"id":"100811","name":"Phd Defense"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[{"id":"1788","name":"Other\/Miscellaneous"}],"invited_audience":[{"id":"78771","name":"Public"}],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}