Tosif Ahamed
Contact: ahamedt at janelia dott hhmi dot org
I am currently a theory fellow at HHMI's amazing Janelia Research Campus. I have a background in theoretical biophysicist, with a focus on dynamical systems, data-driven modeling and machine learning. My primary research focus is to understand the mathematical principles and neurobiological mechanisms by which animals adapt their behavior to suit the environmental context. Theoretically, this question entails the study of complex, multi-scale dynamical systems with time-varying parameters. While, biologically, it translates to how neural circuits can rewire in a time and context depentent manner (e.g. by neuromodulation through chemicals such as monoamines (dopamine, serotonin etc.)).
Although, the tools and ideas I use are general. I enjoy the experimental tractability of the roundworm C. elegans as a model system. I have developed mathematical models and computational tools to study worm behavior from the perspective of dynamical systems. In particular, I developed a continuous state-space from video recordings of moving worms. A state-space is a maximally predictive geometric representation of the measurement data. Analyzing the local state-space geometry and global topology provides detailed insights into the structure and organization of behavioral dynamics.
Recent technological breakthroughs have made it possible to perform simultaneous recordings of whole-brain neural activity along with behavioral imaging in moving worms. My current focus is to study adaptive behavior using such neurobehavioral datasets