Georgia Institute of Technology College of Sciences

The complex connectivity structure unique to the brain network is believed to underlie its robust and efficient coding capability. Specifically, neuronal networks at multiple scales utilize their structural complexities to achieve different computational goals. In this talk, I will discuss functional implications that can be inferred from the architecture of brain networks.

The first part of the talk will focus on a generalized problem of linking structure and dynamics of the whole-brain network. By simulating large-scale brain dynamics using a data-driven network of phase oscillators, we show that complexities added to the spatially embedded brain connectome by idiosyncratic long-range connections, enable rapid transitions between local and global synchronizations. In addition to the spatial dependence, I will also discuss hierarchical structure of the brain network. Based on the data-driven layer-specific connectivity patterns, we developed an unsupervised method to find the hierarchical organization of the mouse cortical and thalamic network. The uncovered hierarchy provides insights into the direction of information flow in the mouse brain, which has been less well-defined compared to the primate brain.

Finally, I will discuss computational implications of the hierarchical organization of the brain network. I will focus on a specific type of computation – discrimination of partially occluded objects— carried out by a small cortical circuitry composed of an intermediate visual cortical area V4 and its efferent prefrontal cortex. I will explore how distinct feedforward and feedback signals promote robust encoding of visual stimuli by leveraging predictive coding, a Bayesian inference theory of cortical computation which has been proposed as a method to create efficient neural codes. We implement a predictive coding model of V4 and prefrontal cortex to investigate possible computational roles of feedback signals in the visual system and their potential significance in robust encoding of nosy visual stimuli.

In sum, our results reveal the close link between structural complexity and computational versatility found in brain networks, which may be useful for developing more efficient artificial neural networks and neuromorphic devices.

Branched covers are a generalization of covering spaces, and give rise to interesting questions in smooth as well as contact topology. All 3 manifolds arise as branched coverings of the 3-sphere. The talk will involve a discussion of the proof of this fact due to Montesinos, and will explore the work done towards understanding which contact 3 manifolds arise as the branched cover of the standard tight 3 sphere, and how the branch set can be regulated.

I will discuss how a graph theoretic construction used by Hirasawa and Murasugi can be used to show that the commutator subgroup of the knot group of a two-bridge knot is a union of an ascending chain of parafree groups. Using a theorem of Baumslag, this implies that the commutator subgroup of a two-bridge knot group is residually torsion-free nilpotent which has applications to the anti-symmetry of ribbon concordance and the bi-orderability of two-bridge knots. In 1973, E. J. Mayland gave a conference talk in which he announced this result. Notes on this talk can be found online. However, this result has never been published, and there is evidence, in later papers, that a proper proof might have eluded Mayland.

Anosov flows provide beautiful examples of interactions between dynamics, geometry and analysis. In dimension 3 in particular, they are known to have a subtle relation to topology as well. Motivated by a result of Mitsumatsu from 1995, I will discuss their relation to contact and symplectic structures and argue why contact topological methods are natural tools to study the related global phenomena.