The students, Michael Hadley ’10 (Somerville, N.J.), Matthew McGranaghan ’10 (Pennington, N.J.), Justin Bruce ’09 (Rochester, N.Y.), and Grayson Sipe ’10 (Lititz, Pa.), have been working as EXCEL scholars with Elaine Reynolds, associate professor of biology and chair of neuroscience, and Chun Wai Liew, associate professor and head of computer science.
The research is related to a $590,000 grant Liew received from the National Science Foundation, which is being used to incorporate computational approaches and tools across the curriculum. This will allow students to develop computational skills and apply them not only in this project but in many other fields.
With the project, the students assessed various computational models for consciousness. The models gave the students a way to measure the ability of a system of neurons to integrate information. The group is also working to get data from real connection structures in the human brain. They will then run that data through their model in an attempt to locate areas of high integrative capacity, which could be potential areas of consciousness.
Hadley says this project has helped him looking ahead after graduation.
“This research has given me a much better idea of what I want to do in my future,” he says. “I know that this is the field I want to be a part of now. The research will be a huge asset for me when I try to get work in the field."
