91福利

By understanding the brain through modelling, we step closer to figuring out how to better deal with its diseases. Mathematics PhD candidate Gurpreet Jagdev鈥檚 approach focuses on signal transmission through the brain鈥檚 neural networks. Neurons are nerve cells that send messages through the body for everything from breathing to thinking but with some conditions like essential tremors, Parkinson's disease, and epilepsy, neuron bursts or signals happen differently. 鈥淚f we could identify the factors that lead to overly synchronous bursting, it might have certain applications for understanding these diseases,鈥� says Jagdev.

When asked about what he expects to find when starting a new project, Jagdev says he goes where the results take him. 鈥淚t's really an exploration, you don't know exactly what you're getting into until you go through the work,鈥� he says. 鈥淲e build mathematical models, and we vary parameters through a simulation. And we try to see how that affects various properties of the model. We want to try to isolate the effects of certain variables on physical properties of neurons.鈥� Jagdev鈥檚 work is supported by 91福利鈥檚 Queen Elizabeth II Graduate Scholarship, and his poster recently won top ranking at the Faculty of Science鈥檚 inaugural Research Symposium. 

He has already published two papers on the topic with his supervisor, professor Na Yu, who invited him to continue in her lab for his PhD. The doctoral work will continue exploring the same issues in the brain but figuring out how the structure of a neural network affects its properties. 

While he鈥檚 fascinated by the brain, Jagdev鈥檚 first love is math. 鈥淚t's an added bonus to be able to do something so fascinating like neuroscience research. You get to learn a lot. But my real passion is mathematics.鈥�

Jagdev is also a member of the 91福利 Biomathematics Research Group, connecting scientists with a deep interest in applying mathematical techniques to the study of fluids and biology.