AUTHOR=Miller Anna , Li Dawei , Platt Jason , Daou Arij , Margoliash Daniel , Abarbanel Henry D. I. 

TITLE=Statistical Data Assimilation: Formulation and Examples From Neurobiology

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Applied Mathematics and Statistics

VOLUME=4

YEAR=2018

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/applied-mathematics-and-statistics/articles/10.3389/fams.2018.00053

DOI=10.3389/fams.2018.00053

ISSN=2297-4687

ABSTRACT=<p>For the Research Topic <italic>Data Assimilation and Control: Theory and Applications in Life Sciences</italic> we first review the formulation of statistical data assimilation (SDA) and discuss algorithms for exploring variational approximations to the conditional expected values of biophysical aspects of functional neural circuits. Then we report on the application of SDA to (1) the exploration of properties of individual neurons in the HVC nucleus of the avian song system, and (2) characterizing individual neurons formulated as very large scale integration (VLSI) analog circuits with a goal of building functional, biophysically realistic, VLSI representations of functional nervous systems. Networks of neurons pose a substantially greater challenge, and we comment on formulating experiments to probe the properties, especially the functional connectivity, in song command circuits within HVC.</p>