Neural spike variability: unifying conflicting views of neural dynamics. The project aims to improve our understanding of neural dynamics. The brain represents and processes information by means of neural voltage spikes, which show great variability in their timing. Understanding the origin of such variable neural dynamics is a long-standing problem in neuroscience. The aim of this project is to develop a novel account of variable neural dynamics, unravelling their computational principles in th ....Neural spike variability: unifying conflicting views of neural dynamics. The project aims to improve our understanding of neural dynamics. The brain represents and processes information by means of neural voltage spikes, which show great variability in their timing. Understanding the origin of such variable neural dynamics is a long-standing problem in neuroscience. The aim of this project is to develop a novel account of variable neural dynamics, unravelling their computational principles in the brain, and unifying current leading but conflicting theories. The model developed in this project would be used to explain a range of empirical observations, and the principles unravelled would be applied to understand spike-timing based neural coding. The new knowledge gained in this project may have profound implications for designing brain-like computing devices.Read moreRead less
Building macroscale models from microscale probabilistic models. Spatial patterns arise in biological and physical processes. Understanding how local individual-based functions, such as movement and interactions between individuals, give rise to global spatial distributions and patterns in populations of individuals is generating much interest. Probabilistic agent-based models provide information about the movement of individuals, whereas continuum models provide information about the global pro ....Building macroscale models from microscale probabilistic models. Spatial patterns arise in biological and physical processes. Understanding how local individual-based functions, such as movement and interactions between individuals, give rise to global spatial distributions and patterns in populations of individuals is generating much interest. Probabilistic agent-based models provide information about the movement of individuals, whereas continuum models provide information about the global properties, such as spread of populations. This project will provide tools for determining the connection between the two types of models, thereby linking the behaviour on microscopic and macroscopic scales.Read moreRead less
How microbes build their environments through evolutionary feedback. The fitness landscape, a key evolutionary concept, relates genes or traits to reproductive fitness. However, this has been challenged by organisms that distort the landscape by changing their environments. This project aims to develop a new mathematical model that restores the landscape concept by extending it to accommodate niche construction. This framework will be applied to microorganisms that alter their environments, for ....How microbes build their environments through evolutionary feedback. The fitness landscape, a key evolutionary concept, relates genes or traits to reproductive fitness. However, this has been challenged by organisms that distort the landscape by changing their environments. This project aims to develop a new mathematical model that restores the landscape concept by extending it to accommodate niche construction. This framework will be applied to microorganisms that alter their environments, for example, by provoking and subverting the host immune system, and by inducing behavioural change in hosts. These processes alter how natural selection operates on microbes and thus lead to important evolutionary feedback. The model will be used to examine antibiotic resistance, pathogen virulence and how microbiomes develop.Read moreRead less
The evolution of cooperative communication. This interdisciplinary project will provide a broad understanding of communication in a model ecological system involving ants, lycaenid butterflies, and host-plants. The project will reveal the nature of the chemical signals used to communicate, and their role in the origin, maintenance, and loss of mutualistic and parasitic associations.
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE160100127
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$355,000.00
Summary
Superresolution fluorescence imaging in microbiology. Superresolution fluorescence imaging in microbiology:
This project involves the purchase of new, and upgrade of existing, fluorescence imaging tools to facilitate the study of intracellular processes in microbial systems at significantly higher spatial and temporal resolutions than hitherto possible. Visualisation of the structure and dynamics of intracellular molecular assemblies at maximal resolution is required to understand protein funct ....Superresolution fluorescence imaging in microbiology. Superresolution fluorescence imaging in microbiology:
This project involves the purchase of new, and upgrade of existing, fluorescence imaging tools to facilitate the study of intracellular processes in microbial systems at significantly higher spatial and temporal resolutions than hitherto possible. Visualisation of the structure and dynamics of intracellular molecular assemblies at maximal resolution is required to understand protein function inside living cells. The new equipment is designed to provide a fast super-resolution imaging system to study the intracellular dynamics of proteins in vitro and a super-resolution microscope to visualise structures and assemblies inside microbes with a resolution of tens of nanometres, putting in vitro biochemistry into the context of a living cell. Read moreRead less
Novel techniques for statistical and mathematical analyses of sequence data. Algorithms will be developed for analysing and comparing the sequences of DNA letters and amino acids constantly being generated in massive quantities by biological research. The novel approach taken is based on the statistical frequency of occurrence of short words and is designed specifically for situations where current methods fail.
Understanding the crowd - improving accuracy in collective motion theory. This project intends to develop more accurate methods for predicting the motions of large groups. The amazing coordinated movements seen in large groups of animals are governed by simple interactions between individuals, termed rules of motion. In 2011, techniques were developed to estimate individual rules of motion from video tracking data. The project plans to build on these breakthroughs by using advanced tracking, mod ....Understanding the crowd - improving accuracy in collective motion theory. This project intends to develop more accurate methods for predicting the motions of large groups. The amazing coordinated movements seen in large groups of animals are governed by simple interactions between individuals, termed rules of motion. In 2011, techniques were developed to estimate individual rules of motion from video tracking data. The project plans to build on these breakthroughs by using advanced tracking, modelling and analysis to systematically determine the influence that different movement parameters have on rules of motion and how rules of motion are affected by group size. It aims to develop a framework for analysis and modelling built on the visual perception of individuals.Read moreRead less
Leadership matters: the emergence of informed leaders and their influence on group movement. This project will discover the effect of leadership and social structure on collective motion in schools of damselfish, swarms of honey bees and human pedestrians using videoed experiments and computer simulations. These findings will be important in preventing crowd stampedes, understanding risky road crossing behaviour and designing 'swarms' of robots.
Engineering an artificial protein molecular motor. This project aims to use non-motor protein building blocks to construct an artificial protein motor. Nature already uses nanotechnology as the basis for all its machinery, and uses proteins to construct machines. Each protein component in the motor will have a well-understood function; this artificial protein will elucidate how it converts chemical energy to motion. This process is not understood as molecular motors do not obey the same principl ....Engineering an artificial protein molecular motor. This project aims to use non-motor protein building blocks to construct an artificial protein motor. Nature already uses nanotechnology as the basis for all its machinery, and uses proteins to construct machines. Each protein component in the motor will have a well-understood function; this artificial protein will elucidate how it converts chemical energy to motion. This process is not understood as molecular motors do not obey the same principles as macroscopic machines. Comparing the artificial motor with biological motors will provide insight into the workings of natural motors. This project should lead to molecular motors for nanobiotechnology.Read moreRead less
Human longevity: Modelling social changes that propelled its evolution. The project plans to simulate behavioural and social changes that could have driven the evolution of human longevity past the end of female menopause. The aims are to develop a mathematical framework for modelling complex organisation in a population in terms of fundamental social units and to qualitatively evaluate the relative importance of these social units in potentially driving human evolution from the ancestral state. ....Human longevity: Modelling social changes that propelled its evolution. The project plans to simulate behavioural and social changes that could have driven the evolution of human longevity past the end of female menopause. The aims are to develop a mathematical framework for modelling complex organisation in a population in terms of fundamental social units and to qualitatively evaluate the relative importance of these social units in potentially driving human evolution from the ancestral state. Such models may enable us to compare two prominent and opposing hypotheses of the evolution of human longevity: the Grandmother Hypothesis and the Hunting Hypothesis.Read moreRead less