Frontiers in Applied Mathematics and Statistics (Nov 2018)

Statistical Data Assimilation: Formulation and Examples From Neurobiology

  • Anna Miller,
  • Dawei Li,
  • Jason Platt,
  • Arij Daou,
  • Daniel Margoliash,
  • Henry D. I. Abarbanel,
  • Henry D. I. Abarbanel

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3389/fams.2018.00053
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 4

Abstract

Read online

For the Research Topic Data Assimilation and Control: Theory and Applications in Life Sciences we first review the formulation of statistical data assimilation (SDA) and discuss algorithms for exploring variational approximations to the conditional expected values of biophysical aspects of functional neural circuits. Then we report on the application of SDA to (1) the exploration of properties of individual neurons in the HVC nucleus of the avian song system, and (2) characterizing individual neurons formulated as very large scale integration (VLSI) analog circuits with a goal of building functional, biophysically realistic, VLSI representations of functional nervous systems. Networks of neurons pose a substantially greater challenge, and we comment on formulating experiments to probe the properties, especially the functional connectivity, in song command circuits within HVC.

Keywords