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From diverse dynamics to diverse computation via neural cell types

Award Number: RF1DA055669
ORGANIZATION: NATIONAL INSTITUTE ON DRUG ABUSE
OPDIV: NIH
AWARD CLASS: DISCRETIONARY
AWARD ACTIVITY TYPE: SCIENTIFIC/HEALTH RESEARCH (INCLUDES SURVEYS)
PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE START DATE: 08/15/2021
PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE END DATE: 12/31/2025

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From diverse dynamics to diverse computation via neural cell types - Project Summary A prominent feature of biological neuronal networks is the astonishing diversity of their cell types. Major, nationally coordinated experimental efforts, including the BRAIN Initiative’s Cell Census Network (BICCN) and the Allen Institute Cell Types programs, are currently revealing this cellular diversity at new and very high levels of resolution. For example, just across two areas of mouse cortex 133 cell types have been characterized, with many types shared across areas! Similar cell classes have been observed across species. These types show marked differences not only gene expression and connectivity, but also membrane, spiking, and synaptic dynamics. This is in sharp contrast to most computational and theoretical models of learning in neural networks, which generally make use of only one or a small number of cell types. The goal of this project is to produce new computational and theoretical tools to help close this gap. This will enable us, and the broader community, to test a hypothesis for the functional role of cell-type specific, heterogeneous cellular and synaptic dynamics: that they can be harnessed to generate complex network dynamics which allows faster or more accurate learning of tasks which themselves have inputs or objectives which have complex dynamics. Such tasks abound in natural environments. Testing this hypothesis requires new high-throughput computational tools to train neural networks with biologically realistic dynamics and connectivity to solve tasks, new theoretical tools to understand how diverse cellular dynamics contribute to network computation, and new application to large-scale, cellular data-driven models. First, with the expertise of a grant-supported scientific software engineer, will build, test, and disseminate a software package that flexibly implements heterogeneous dynamics of single cells and short-term synaptic dynamics. We plan to use a very popular, freely available and open source software framework for machine learning (Pytorch). Next, we will establish metrics of network dynamics that help to mechanistically explain what does -- and does not -- matter about cellular and synaptic heterogeneity in impacting learning performance. Finally, we will integrate these tools with a prior cell-type specific computational model of the mouse primary visual cortex, based on large scale Allen Institute databases, to test the hypothesis stated above. Specifically, we will newly determine whether experimentally observed levels of heterogeneity in cellular and synaptic dynamics contribute to the ability of visual microcircuits to perform visual computation.


Issue Date FY	Funding FY	Legal Entity Name	Legal Entity Address	Legal Entity City	Legal Entity State	Legal Entity Zip Code	Legal Entity COUNTY	Legal Entity COUNTRY	Assistance Listing	Award Code	Budget Year	Action Date	Action Type	Action Amount

Issue Date FY: 2026 ( Subtotal = $0 )
2026	2021	ALLEN INSTITUTE	615 WESTLAKE AVE N	SEATTLE	WA	98109	KING	USA	Drug Use and Addiction Research Programs	000	1	5/19/2026	NEW	$0
														Subtotal = $0

Issue Date FY: 2025 ( Subtotal = $0 )
2025	2021	ALLEN INSTITUTE	615 WESTLAKE AVE N	SEATTLE	WA	98109	KING	USA	Drug Use and Addiction Research Programs	000	1	9/11/2025	NEW	$0
														Subtotal = $0

Issue Date FY: 2024 ( Subtotal = $0 )
2024	2021	ALLEN INSTITUTE	615 WESTLAKE AVE N	SEATTLE	WA	98109	KING	USA	Drug Use and Addiction Research Programs	000	1	7/17/2024	NEW	$0
														Subtotal = $0

Issue Date FY: 2021 ( Subtotal = $1,115,283 )
2021	2021	ALLEN INSTITUTE	615 WESTLAKE AVE N	SEATTLE	WA	98109	KING	USA	Drug Use and Addiction Research Programs	000	1	8/13/2021	NEW	$1,115,283
2021	2021	ALLEN INSTITUTE	615 WESTLAKE AVE N	SEATTLE	WA	98109	KING	USA	Drug Use and Addiction Research Programs	001	1	9/14/2021	NEW	$0
														Subtotal = $1,115,283

Grand Total All Awards = $1,115,283

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From diverse dynamics to diverse computation via neural cell types

Award Number: RF1DA055669

ORGANIZATION: NATIONAL INSTITUTE ON DRUG ABUSE

OPDIV: NIH

AWARD CLASS: DISCRETIONARY

AWARD ACTIVITY TYPE: SCIENTIFIC/HEALTH RESEARCH (INCLUDES SURVEYS)

PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE START DATE: 08/15/2021

PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE END DATE: 12/31/2025

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