Engineering Commons^™

Dynamics And Control In Spiking Neural Networks, Fuqiang Huang

McKelvey School of Engineering Theses & Dissertations

In the brain, neurons (brain cells) produce electrical impulses, or spikes, that are thought to be the substrate of information processing and computation. Through enigmatic processes, these spikes are ultimately decoded into perceptions and actions. The nature of this encoding and decoding is one of the most pervasive questions in theoretical neuroscience. In other words, what are the specific functions enacted by neural circuits, through their biophysics and dynamics? This thesis examines the dynamics of neural networks from the perspective of control theory and engineering. The pivotal concept is that of the normative synthesis of neural circuits, wherein neural dynamics …