Over the past decade, and particularly over the past five years, research at the interface of topology and neuroscience has grown remarkably fast. Topology has, for example, been successfully applied to objective classification of neuron morphologies and to automatic detection of network dynamics. On Wednesday 29 May, Kathryn Hess Bellwald, mathematician of the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), will introduce the algebraic topology of brain structure and function, describing results obtained by the members of her lab in collaboration with the Blue Brain Project on digitally reconstructed microcircuits of neurons in the rat cortex. She will also present their on-going work on the topology of synaptic plasticity. The talk will include an overview of the Blue Brain Project and a brief introduction to the topological tools that they use. The Colloquium, entitled "Topological adventures in neuroscience", will take place at the "Paolo Budinich" Main Lecture Hall at 4pm.
Image: Courtesy of Blue Brain Project