Nicolas Müller

I am Nicolas Müller, a high-school student in Heidelberg. Since 2007 I'm a member of the Life-Science Lab and I have since then participated in the neuropsychology, the mathematics, the robotics and the computer science working group. Since 2009, I am mentor of the computer science working group. Since my admission to the Life-Science Lab, my work has been focused on the brain and its functions, computer science and mathematics. So I feel very glad to be accepted at the Redwood Center for Theoretical Neuroscience and I'm going to focus my work in this year on the preparation.

The Redwood Center for Theoretical Neuroscience is part of the Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute located at the University of California, Berkeley. The research is focused on mathematical and computational models of neurobiological functions in the brain, which are used to understand more about learning, perception, cognition and motor processes. Models, built using statistical learning methods and known neurophysiology, are used to predict specific functions and experimental data. These models can be used to improve the analysis of experiments (e.g. MRI and EEG). A central point to understand many of the brain's functions is learning. The lab focuses on invariant representations and how they are built from sensory input. “Invariant” means, that the representation is independent of the actual appearance of the object. For example, we recognize a cup, independent of the direction from which we view it. It can even be partially occluded. Going from sensory neuron layers to more high-level layers, the representation becomes more invariant. Another important point is the research on the different “levels” of the brain: on the one hand there are single neurons spiking in a specific pattern, on the other hand, there are bigger structures, like clusters of neurons, which also produce oscillations that expand in space and time. The lab researches the effect of single neurons on the activity of clusters. Also there is ongoing research on how different areas of the brain communicate and weather there is a global scheme describing this communication.