We are supporting research at this centre in Israel to advance our understanding of the principles of dynamics and function in the cortex, and helping the centre foster collaborations with other institutes in the UK and the USA with overlapping interests.

The Gatsby Programme in Theoretical Neuroscience at the Edmond and Lily Safra Center for Brain Sciences (ELSC) in the Hebrew University of Jerusalem supports multidisciplinary research and training in the field of computational neuroscience. The scientific questions being addressed are driven by close ties between theorists and experimentalists, as well as between physiologists and cognitive neuroscientists; and include a very diverse range of topics from single cell and small network function to more systems-level studies, such as memory and sensation, as well as investigation of modulatory processes.

Gatsby funds are supporting projects such as investigations into fluctuations in electrical activity in cortical circuits and their impact on dynamics; and examinations of the effect of learning on the functional organisation of cortical circuits.

Advancing the understanding of the principles of dynamics and function in the cortex is an enormous task that calls for collaboration between several centres with overlapping interests. To this end, we are helping to foster collaborations between the Gatsby Programme at ELSC, the Gatsby Computational Neuroscience Unit at University College London, and the Centre for Theoretical Neuroscience at Columbia University, including through a student and post-doctoral researcher exchange programme between the three centres.