[Seminar] Embodied intelligence through integrated neuromechanical models for natural behavior by Prof. Bing Wen Brunton

Title:

Embodied intelligence through integrated neuromechanical models for natural behavior

Abstract:

The brain and body have always been inextricable in solving the pressing challenges faced by the animal. I will talk about our ongoing work with collaborators to build embodied models of the brain, where the nervous system interfaces explicitly with models of the body, including its kinematics, dynamics, and biomechanics. Our models are agent-based and generative, meaning that they can interact flexibly with a changing environment and predict responses to unexpected physical or neural manipulations. Starting with well studied model organisms like flies and rodents, we are developing a computational framework to connect comprehensive datasets, including the connectome, neurophysiology, musculoskeletal dynamics, and behavior.

Bio:

Bing Wen Brunton is a Professor of Biology and the Richard & Joan Komen University Chair at the University of Washington (UW) in Seattle, with affiliations at the eScience Institute for Data Science, the Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science & Engineering, and the Department of Applied Mathematics. Her research group develops data-intensive methods to build models of the nervous system and body that can interact with a changing environment and predict responses to unexpected manipulations, using approaches from dynamical systems & control, deep reinforcement learning, computer vision, and physics-constrained simulations. Her work has been recognized with awards and honors, including the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Fellowship in Neuroscience (2016), a UW Innovation Award (2017), a Young Investigator Program award from the Air Force Office of Scientific Research (2018), and as a Weill Neurohub Investigator (2020).

Zoom:

URL: https://oist.zoom.us/j/97841134362?pwd=xnh0eWmzSLdETaBe3cWK1e9wbCeJO7.1&from=addon
Meeting ID: 978 4113 4362
Passcode: 909239