Micheal O'Shea - Professor of Neuroscience
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Phone Location |
++44 (1273) 67-8508 JMS 3B14 M.O-Shea@sussex.ac.uk |
| Search the CCNR bibliography for papers by Micheal O'Shea | ||
Research Interests
My research is concerned with the cellular and molecular mechanisms of neuronal signalling and with the application of computational techniques to explore novel modes of neuronal inter-communication. Traditionally, information flow in the brain is thought to be mediated by neurotransmitters which are released at specialized points of close apposition between neurons known as synapses. Such point-to-point signalling is essentially two-dimensional and ties-in well with a conventional connectionist model of brain function. The recent discovery that the gas nitric oxide (NO) is a neural signalling molecule which can diffuse freely in the brain however has challanged this view. It suggests the existence of a radically different form of signalling which is essentially four-dimensional. We are using computational techniques to model the diffusion of NO in the brain and to explore the functional consequences of non-synaptic gaseous signalling. The idea we are testing is that a diffusing modulatory transmitter acts in space and time, affecting volumes of the nervous system containing many neurons and synapses. In collaboration with others in the CCNR, in particular Phil Husbands, I am also incorporating the concept of 'volume signalling' into the development of novel types of artificial neural networks (GasNets) used to control visually guided behaviour in robots.