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Nelson, Mark E.
Professor, Molecular and Integrative Physiology, Biophysics and Computational Biology, Beckman Institute, Bioengineering
B.S., Wichita State University
Ph.D., University of California, Berkeley
Research Areas
Computational Neuroscience, Neuroethology, Adaptive Behavior
What are the behavioral strategies and neural substrates that allow animals to adapt and survive in complex environments? What general types of information processing problems must be solved? What are the key transitions that have occurred in the evolution of biological intelligence during the history of life on earth? Under what conditions will similar transitions emerge in computer simulations of animal-like agents (animats) in virtual environments?
Our laboratory seeks to understand intelligence in natural and artificial systems using a combination of empirical and computational studies. Our empirical studies focus on prey capture behavior in electric fish as a model system for understanding active acquisition of sensory information from the environment. Our computational studies explore a broader range of factors governing the emergence and evolution of adaptive behaviors in animal-like agents in dynamic, uncertain environments. In the past, we have also been involved in the design and implementation of artificial neural controllers for biorobotic systems.
Representative Publications
Snyder, J. B.; Nelson, M. E.; Burdick, J. W.; Maclver, M. A., Omnidirectional sensory and motor volumes in electric fish. PLoS Biology 2007, 5, (11), 2671-2683.
Ludtke, N.; Nelson, M. E., Short-term synaptic plasticity can enhance weak signal delectability in nonrenewal spike trains. Neural Computation 2006, 18, (12), 2879-2916.
Nelson, M.E.; MacIver, M.A. Sensory acquisition in active sensing systems. J. Comp. Physiol. 2006. A 192, 573-586.
Chen L, House JH, Krahe R, Nelson ME (2005) Modeling signal and background components of electrosensory scenes. J. Comp. Physiol. A 191: 331-345.
Nelson ME (2005) Electrophysiological Models. In: Databasing the Brain: From Data to Knowledge. (S. Koslow and S. Subramaniam, eds.) Wiley, New York, pp. 285-301.
Coombs S, New, J.G., and Nelson ME (2002) Information-processing demands in electrosensory and mechanosensory lateral line systems. J. Physiol. (Paris) 96, 341-354.
Brandman, R. and Nelson ME (2002) A simple model of long-term spike train regularization. Neural Computation 14, 1575-1597.
MacIver, M.A., Sharabash, N.M., and Nelson, M.E. (2001) "Prey-capture behavior in gymnotid electric fish: motion analysis and effects of water conductivity," J. Exp. Biol. 204, 543-557.
Additional Information
Related Research (By Area):
Bioinformatics and Neuroinformatics
Computational Neuroscience
Neuroengineering
Neuroethology
Sensory and Motor Systems
Contact information:
