Large-Scale Hippocampal Model

Theodore W. Berger is a professor in the USC Viterbi School of Engineering's Department of Biomedical Engineering, where he holds the David Packard Chair in Engineering, and the director of USC Center for Neural Engineering. Berger's research interests include the development of neural prostheses and brain implants, the neurophysiology of memory and learning, nonlinear systems analysis of hippocampal neuron and network properties, and biologically based signal processing.

Berger and his team study the hippocampus, the area of the brain that is crucial for the formation, storage, and processing of long-term memories. His team develops mathematical models of neural systems by focusing on the electrical activity that is produced by hippocampal neurons and mapping that activity to underlying biological processes.

Using HPCC resources to create a model of hippocampal brain activity, Berger's team maps the electrical impulses that neurons send to other neurons along the fibrous network of axons and dendrites. Berger and his team then are able to analyze how hippocampal neurons encode information by generating unique spatio-temporal patterns of activity in response to external stimuli.

In collaboration with researchers at the USC Viterbi School of Engineering's Information Sciences Institute, Berger's team has developed the microcircuitry for neural prostheses that can be used to create an electronic bypass in a damaged area of teh hppocampus. Berger and his team, in collaboration with researchers at Wake Forest University, are currently testing these biomimetic implants, which could potentially repair brain damage caused by injury, stroke, epilepsy, or dementia.

In 2009, Berger and his collaborators won a 4-year grant from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to research the restoration of lost memory function. Berger leads one of the testbeds of the Biomimetic MicroElectronic Systems Engineering Research Center, funded by the National Science Foundation. He also co-leads a Biodmedical Research Partnership effort, funded by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, and a biologically based threat-sensor project, funded by the U.S. Navy.