Drexel Mathematics Colloquium
Speaker: David Golomb,
Professor, Department of Physiology and Neurobiology, Ben Gurion
University
Abstract: A mechanistic description of the generation of whisker movements and
its modulation by contact with objects is essential for understanding
the control of whisking and vibrissal active touch. First, we study
whisking in air and explore how facial-motoneuron spikes are
translated, via an intrinsic muscle, to whisker movements. This is
achieved by constructing, simulating, and analyzing a computational,
biomechanical model of the motor plant. Our model predicts that
contraction of a single intrinsic muscle results in movement of its
two attached whiskers with different amplitudes; the relative
amplitudes depend on the resting angles and on the attachment location
of the intrinsic muscle on the anterior whisker. Second, we explore
the effect of contact with object by developing and exploring models
of bending whiskers. Preliminary results show that the real whisker
bends more in response to contact than the model whisker.
About the speaker: Dr. Golomb works in theoretical and computational
neuroscience. Before joining the faculty of Ben Gurion University, he held
visiting positions at Cornell University and the National Institutes of
Health. He is currently on sabbatical at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute research campus at Janelia Farm.