Leonid L. Rubchinsky, Ph.D. Department of Mathematical Sciences, IUPUI Stark Neurosciences Research Institute Indiana University School of Medicine

My research interests lie in the area of mathematical and computational neuroscience. I am using mathematical and computational methods to study the dynamics of the nervous system to get insights into its function. My current research is concentrated on the dynamics of basal ganglia – brain nuclei, which, among other things, control motor programs and are impacted in Parkinson’s disease (characterized by tremor and hypokinetic behavior). Despite the large amount of factual knowledge about basal ganglia at all levels – from cells to behavior, the principles of function of basal ganglia in Parkinson’s disease (and other diseases involving basal ganglia) and even in normal conditions are far from being fully understood. There is mounting experimental evidence that complex collective dynamics of interaction of various ionic channels and various cells are responsible for normal basal ganglia operation and pathological variations of these dynamics are responsible for its pathophysiology.