George Bard Ermentrout

Last updated
G. Bard Ermentrout
BornMarch 5, 1954 [1]
Citizenship United States of America
EducationPh.D.
Alma mater University of Chicago
Known for Mathematical neuroscience
Scientific career
Institutions University of Pittsburgh
Thesis Symmetry Breaking in Homogeneous, Isotropic Stationary Neuronal Nets (1979)
Doctoral advisor Jack D. Cowan
Website www.pitt.edu/~phase/

G. Bard Ermentrout is an American mathematician and distinguished professor at University of Pittsburgh and a member of the Odor2Action research network. [2] He uses nonlinear dynamics for the mathematical modeling of problems in neuroscience. He explores patterns of activation in neural systems as they relate to biological problems such as olfaction. [3]

Bard Ermentrout is known for his contributions to computational and mathematical neuroscience. His joint work with Nancy Kopell derived the Ermentrout and Kopell canonical model, [4] He and David Terman wrote the book Mathematical Foundations of Neuroscience. [5] He helped to develop the dynamical systems software XPPAuto. [6]

One approach he uses in the study of olfaction is to program a virtual creature, implement various movement strategies for tracking scents, and examine their success rate under a different conditions. This enables researchers to better understand olfactory navigation strategies such as tropotaxis and klinotaxis and how they work in conditions such as high turbulence. [2] [7]

Outside of work, he is fond of his many pets and has owned many pet parrots over the years. He most recently owns a galah and two corgis. He is also a lover of limericks.

Related Research Articles

The Coolidge effect is a biological phenomenon seen in animals, whereby males exhibit renewed sexual interest whenever a new female is introduced, even after sex with prior but still available sexual partners. To a lesser extent, the effect is also seen among females with regard to their mates.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Olfactory bulb</span> Neural structure

The olfactory bulb is a neural structure of the vertebrate forebrain involved in olfaction, the sense of smell. It sends olfactory information to be further processed in the amygdala, the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) and the hippocampus where it plays a role in emotion, memory and learning. The bulb is divided into two distinct structures: the main olfactory bulb and the accessory olfactory bulb. The main olfactory bulb connects to the amygdala via the piriform cortex of the primary olfactory cortex and directly projects from the main olfactory bulb to specific amygdala areas. The accessory olfactory bulb resides on the dorsal-posterior region of the main olfactory bulb and forms a parallel pathway. Destruction of the olfactory bulb results in ipsilateral anosmia, while irritative lesions of the uncus can result in olfactory and gustatory hallucinations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Olfactory system</span> Sensory system used for smelling

The olfactory system, or sense of smell, is the sensory system used for smelling (olfaction). Olfaction is one of the special senses, that have directly associated specific organs. Most mammals and reptiles have a main olfactory system and an accessory olfactory system. The main olfactory system detects airborne substances, while the accessory system senses fluid-phase stimuli.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Interneuron</span> Neurons that are not motor or sensory

Interneurons are neurons that connect to brain regions, i.e. not direct motor neurons or sensory neurons. Interneurons are the central nodes of neural circuits, enabling communication between sensory or motor neurons and the central nervous system (CNS). They play vital roles in reflexes, neuronal oscillations, and neurogenesis in the adult mammalian brain.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Docking theory of olfaction</span>

The docking theory of olfaction proposes that the smell of an odorant molecule is due to a range of weak non-covalent interactions between the odorant [a ligand] and one or more G protein-coupled odorant receptors. These include intermolecular forces, such as dipole-dipole and Van der Waals interactions, as well as hydrogen bonding. More specific proposed interactions include metal-ion, ion-ion, cation-pi and pi-stacking. Interactions can be influenced by the hydrophobic effect. Conformational changes can also have a significant impact on interactions with receptors, as ligands have been shown to interact with ligands without being in their conformation of lowest energy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hippocampal formation</span> Region of the temporal lobe in mammalian brains

The hippocampal formation is a compound structure in the medial temporal lobe of the brain. It forms a c-shaped bulge on the floor of the temporal horn of the lateral ventricle. There is no consensus concerning which brain regions are encompassed by the term, with some authors defining it as the dentate gyrus, the hippocampus proper and the subiculum; and others including also the presubiculum, parasubiculum, and entorhinal cortex. The hippocampal formation is thought to play a role in memory, spatial navigation and control of attention. The neural layout and pathways within the hippocampal formation are very similar in all mammals.

Machine olfaction is the automated simulation of the sense of smell. An emerging application in modern engineering, it involves the use of robots or other automated systems to analyze air-borne chemicals. Such an apparatus is often called an electronic nose or e-nose. The development of machine olfaction is complicated by the fact that e-nose devices to date have responded to a limited number of chemicals, whereas odors are produced by unique sets of odorant compounds. The technology, though still in the early stages of development, promises many applications, such as: quality control in food processing, detection and diagnosis in medicine, detection of drugs, explosives and other dangerous or illegal substances, disaster response, and environmental monitoring.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Olfactory tubercle</span> Area at the bottom of the forebrain

The olfactory tubercle (OT), also known as the tuberculum olfactorium, is a multi-sensory processing center that is contained within the olfactory cortex and ventral striatum and plays a role in reward cognition. The OT has also been shown to play a role in locomotor and attentional behaviors, particularly in relation to social and sensory responsiveness, and it may be necessary for behavioral flexibility. The OT is interconnected with numerous brain regions, especially the sensory, arousal, and reward centers, thus making it a potentially critical interface between processing of sensory information and the subsequent behavioral responses.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Odor</span> Volatile chemical compounds perceived by the sense of smell

An odor or odour is caused by one or more volatilized chemical compounds that are generally found in low concentrations that humans and many animals can perceive via their sense of smell. An odor is also called a "smell" or a "scent", which can refer to either an unpleasant or a pleasant odor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sense of smell</span> Sense that detects smells

The sense of smell, or olfaction, is the special sense through which smells are perceived. The sense of smell has many functions, including detecting desirable foods, hazards, and pheromones, and plays a role in taste.

Olfactory memory refers to the recollection of odors. Studies have found various characteristics of common memories of odor memory including persistence and high resistance to interference. Explicit memory is typically the form focused on in the studies of olfactory memory, though implicit forms of memory certainly supply distinct contributions to the understanding of odors and memories of them. Research has demonstrated that the changes to the olfactory bulb and main olfactory system following birth are extremely important and influential for maternal behavior. Mammalian olfactory cues play an important role in the coordination of the mother infant bond, and the following normal development of the offspring. Maternal breast odors are individually distinctive, and provide a basis for recognition of the mother by her offspring.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Olfactory navigation</span>

Olfactory navigation is a hypothesis that proposes the usage of the sense of smell by pigeons, in particular the mail pigeon, in navigation and homing.

Nancy Jane Kopell is an American mathematician and professor at Boston University. She is co-director of the Center for Computational Neuroscience and Neural Technology (CompNet). She organized and directs the Cognitive Rhythms Collaborative (CRC). Kopell received her B.A. from Cornell University in 1963 and her Ph.D. from Berkeley in 1967. She held visiting positions at the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique in France (1970), MIT, and the California Institute of Technology (1976).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Theta model</span>

The theta model, or Ermentrout–Kopell canonical model, is a biological neuron model originally developed to mathematically describe neurons in the animal Aplysia. The model is particularly well-suited to describe neural bursting, which is characterized by periodic transitions between rapid oscillations in the membrane potential followed by quiescence. This bursting behavior is often found in neurons responsible for controlling and maintaining steady rhythms such as breathing, swimming, and digesting. Of the three main classes of bursting neurons, the theta model describes parabolic bursting, which is characterized by a parabolic frequency curve during each burst.

The quadratic integrate and fire (QIF) model is a biological neuron model that describes action potentials in neurons. In contrast to physiologically accurate but computationally expensive neuron models like the Hodgkin–Huxley model, the QIF model seeks only to produce action potential-like patterns by ignoring the dynamics of transmembrane currents and ion channels. Thus, the QIF model is computationally efficient and has found ubiquitous use in computational neuroscience.

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Ann-Sophie Barwich is a cognitive scientist, an empirical philosopher, and a historian of science. She is an assistant professor with joint positions in the cognitive science program and the department of history and philosophy of science at Indiana University Bloomington. Barwich is best known for her interdisciplinary work on the history, philosophy, and neuroscience of olfaction. Her book, Smellosophy: What the Nose tells the Mind, highlights the importance of thinking about the sense of smell as a model for neuroscience and the senses. She is also noted for her analyses on methodological issues in molecular biology and neuroscience.

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Leslie M. Kay is an American neuroscientist and a Professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Chicago. Her research studies the neurophysiology of the olfactory bulb and how behavioral context affects sensory processing.

References

  1. "Dr. Bard Ermentrout". Scholarpedia. Retrieved 8 September 2017.
  2. 1 2 Mackenzie, Dana (6 March 2023). "How animals follow their nose". Knowable Magazine. Annual Reviews. doi: 10.1146/knowable-030623-4 . Retrieved 13 March 2023.
  3. "G. Bard Ermentrout | Department of Mathematics". University of Pittsburgh. Retrieved 14 March 2023.
  4. Ermentrout, Bard; Kopell, Nancy (1984). "Frequency plateaus in a chain of weakly coupled oscillators, i.". SIAM Journal on Mathematical Analysis. 15 (2): 215–237. doi:10.1137/0515019.
  5. Ermentrout, Bard; Terman, David (2010). Mathematical Foundations of Neuroscience. Springer. ISBN   978-0-387-87708-2.
  6. Ermentrout, Bard (2002). Simulating, analyzing, and animating dynamical systems: a guide to XPPAUT for researchers and students. SIAM. ISBN   978-0-89871-506-4.
  7. Hengenius, James B.; Connor, Erin G.; Crimaldi, John P.; Urban, Nathaniel N.; Ermentrout, G. Bard (7 May 2021). "Olfactory navigation in the real world: Simple local search strategies for turbulent environments". Journal of Theoretical Biology. 516: 110607. doi:10.1016/j.jtbi.2021.110607. ISSN   0022-5193. PMID   33524405. S2CID   231755424.