Maksim Bazhenov, Ph.D.

I am interested in understanding cellular and network mechanisms underlying normal and paroxysmal oscillations in the brain and the role of neuronal oscillations and synchrony in information processing.

Oscillatory activity is an emerging property of the brain. The patterns of brain oscillations depend on its functional state and serve different tasks. Sleep slow rhythms can mediate the processes of synaptic plasticity and contribute to memory formation. Fast oscillatory activities are associated with cognitive processes and are involved in transmission of information through the sensory pathways. Transformation of normal brain oscillations into paroxysmal rhythms is associated with severe clinical conditions such as epilepsy. Oscillations in different brain systems can be mediated by similar mechanisms therefore providing common ground for studying brain functions. Understanding these common mechanisms is the primary goal of my research program.

Our work focuses on the following areas: (1) Studying cellular and network mechanisms for normal (sleep, attentive states) and abnormal (epilepsy) oscillations in the thalamocortical system; (2) Studying role of oscillations and synchrony in olfactory coding-this project is targeted to discover the general principles and the neural circuitry involved in the encoding of sensory information in the brain.

To address these questions, we use broad spectrum of experimental and computational approaches ranging from conductance based models developed from experimental data to different classes of simplified neuronal models that allow large-scale analysis with realistic network structure.

Recent Publications:

• M.Bazhenov, N.F.Rulkov and I.Timofeev. Effect of synaptic connectivity on long-range synchronization of fast cortical oscillations. Journal of Neurophysiology 2008 Jul 16; PMID: 18632897.
• M.Bazhenov, I.Timoffev, F.Frohlich and T.J.Sejnowski. Cellular and network mechanisms of electrographic seizures. Drug Discovery Today: Disease Models 2008, in press.
• F.Frohlich, M.Bazhenov, T.J.Sejnowski. Pathological effect of homeostatic synaptic scaling on network dynamics in diseases of the cortex. Journal of Neuroscience 2008 Feb 13; 28(7):1709-20.
• N.F.Rulkov and M. Bazhenov. Oscillations and synchrony in large-scale models of cortical network. Biophysical Journal 2008, in press.
• M.Bazhenov and M.Stopfer. Theoretical and Computational Neuroscience: Olfactory Coding. New Encyclopedia of Neuroscience (eds: Larry Squire, Tom Albright, Floyd Bloom, Fred Gage and Nick Spitzer) Elsevier, 2008.
• L.A.Finelli, S.Haney, M.Bazhenov, M.Stopfer and T.J.Sejnowski. Synaptic learning rules and sparse coding in a model sensory system. PLoS Computational Biology 2008; 4(4): PMID: 18421373.
• G.Turner, M.Bazhenov and G.Laurent. Olfactory representations by Drosophila mushroom body neurons. Journal of Neurophysiology 2008 Feb; 99(2):734-46.
• C.Assisi, M.Stopfer, G.Laurent, M.Bazhenov. Adaptive regulation of sparseness by feedforward inhibition. Nature Neuroscience 2007 Sep; 10(9):1176-84
• F.Frohlich and M.Bazhenov. Coexistence of tonic firing and bursting in cortical neurons. Physical Review E 2006 Sept 28; Vol. 74, No. 3.
• M.Bazhenov, M.Stopfer, T.J.Sejnowski and G.Laurent. Fast odor learning improves reliability of odor responses in the locust antennal lobe. Neuron 2005 May;46(3): 483-492.