Neural Control Engineering: The Emerging Intersection Between Control Theory and Neuroscience (Computational Neuroscience) - Hardcover

Schiff, Steven J

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0262015374 ISBN 13: 9780262015370

Publisher: MIT Press, 2012

Synopsis

How powerful new methods in nonlinear control engineering can be applied to neuroscience, from fundamental model formulation to advanced medical applications.

Over the past sixty years, powerful methods of model-based control engineering have been responsible for such dramatic advances in engineering systems as autolanding aircraft, autonomous vehicles, and even weather forecasting. Over those same decades, our models of the nervous system have evolved from single-cell membranes to neuronal networks to large-scale models of the human brain. Yet until recently control theory was completely inapplicable to the types of nonlinear models being developed in neuroscience. The revolution in nonlinear control engineering in the late 1990s has made the intersection of control theory and neuroscience possible. In Neural Control Engineering, Steven Schiff seeks to bridge the two fields, examining the application of new methods in nonlinear control engineering to neuroscience. After presenting extensive material on formulating computational neuroscience models in a control environment―including some fundamentals of the algorithms helpful in crossing the divide from intuition to effective application―Schiff examines a range of applications, including brain-machine interfaces and neural stimulation. He reports on research that he and his colleagues have undertaken showing that nonlinear control theory methods can be applied to models of single cells, small neuronal networks, and large-scale networks in disease states of Parkinson's disease and epilepsy. With Neural Control Engineering the reader acquires a working knowledge of the fundamentals of control theory and computational neuroscience sufficient not only to understand the literature in this trandisciplinary area but also to begin working to advance the field. The book will serve as an essential guide for scientists in either biology or engineering and for physicians who wish to gain expertise in these areas.

About this title

About the Author

Steven J. Schiff, a neurosurgeon, is Brush Chair Professor of Engineering and Director of the Center for Neural Engineering at Pennsylvania State University.

Review

For many years, Steve Schiff's pioneering work has led the way toward a deeper understanding of the brain as a dynamical system. In this beautifully written and groundbreaking book, he presents a new synthesis of neuroscience, computation, and engineering. Neural Control Engineering will be a welcome resource for all working in this emerging field, and it will guide and inspire the next generation of students.

―Olaf Sporns, Provost Professor, Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Indiana University, author of Networks of the Brain

Edition details

• Publisher: MIT Press
• Publication date: 2012
• ISBN 10: 0262015374
• ISBN 13: 9780262015370
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 361