Education:
BS (honours) 1982 Electrical Engineering and Computer Science - University of California, Berkeley
PhD 1989 Computer Science - University of Illinois
BEPC 1975 - Lycee Montaigne, Paris
Postdoctoral Research Fellowship:
1989-1984 California Institute of Technology, Pasadena
Started at USC: 1994
Research Topics: Learning & Memory, Vision Research, Cellular Neurobiology
Research Description
My research interests lie in the areas of Computational Neuroscience and Neural Engineering. Most of the work in my lab involves the use of computer modeling techniques to study brain function. Some of our goals are of a scientific nature. For example, we have used detailed biophysiical modeling studies to ask whether dendritic trees could contribute to the sensory and memory-related functions of nerve cells. To do this work, we use simulation packages such as the program NEURON, and a variety of custom software developed by members of the lab.
Some of our goals are of a combined scientific and engineering nature. For example, we are particularly interested in the massively parallel computations carried out in the visual cortex which allow us to so quickly recognize objects contained in the visual world around us. We have developed a number of models of this process, and have applied them to various types of visual recognition problems. In this same vein, in one of our current projects, we are attempting to understand the mechanisms used by the brain to learn which features are best for recognizing objects and scenes. Our hope is to someday be able to construct high performance artificial vision systems which could be used to power all manner of intelligent machines.
Selected Publications
Zhou C, Mel BW. - Cue combination and color edge detection in natural scenes. - J Vis [ 2008 ] Apr 11;8(4):4.1-25 . PubMed
Behabadi BF, Mel BW. - J4 at sweet 16: a new wrinkle? - Neural Comput [ 2007 ] Nov;19(11):2865-70 . PubMed
Chklovskii DB, Mel BW, Svoboda K. - Cortical rewiring and information storage. - Nature [ 2004 ] Oct 14;431(7010):782-8 . PubMed
Mel BW, Schiller J. - On the fight between excitation and inhibition: location is everything. - Sci STKE [ 2004 ] Sep 7;2004(250):PE44 . PubMed
Polsky A, Mel BW, Schiller J. - Computational subunits in thin dendrites of pyramidal cells. - Nat Neurosci [ 2004 ] Jun;7(6):621-7 . PubMed
