Neuroengineering Research Laboratory
Neuroengineering is about using scientific methods to understand and model the nervous system, and to use this knowledge to engineer systems that interact with, augment, or mimic nervous system functionality.
Neuroengineering is closely related to the fields of experimental and computational neuroscience.
Experimental neuroscience is the study of neural systems in different forms of life, at the molecular, cellular, systems and cognitive levels. Computational neuroscience refers to the development of mathematical models and computational analyses of these neural systems.
The Neuroengineering group aims to address two questions:
- How does the brain learn, control behaviour, and give rise to the mind?
- How can we use our understanding of the brain to develop technology that can interact with or emulate brain function?
Projects
Bionic Eye and Vision
Through a collaboration with National ICT Australia Victoria Research Laboratory, Neuroengineering is involved in the development of a bionic eye to aid the visually impaired.
Epilepsy
The groups aims to understand the underlying causes of epilepsy from a mathematical standpoint, where interactions/signalling between neurons are studied.
Audition, Speech and Bionic Ear Design
Research projects include cochlear implant design, hearing-aid design, neural modelling of the auditory system, sound localization, speech processing and speech recognition.
Consciousness and Communication
Neuroengineering group hopes to gain a deeper knowledge of consciousness by trying to extend the communication abilities of people who suffer from disorders of consciousness and communication.This research is supported by a grant from the Helen Macpherson Smith Trust.
Neuroimaging and Neuroinformatics
Research conducted in a number of areas, including MR techniques to investigate non-clinical human conditions such as pain, thirst, hunger, aging and the urge to cough.
Computational Neuroscience
Computational Neuroscience complements experimental neuroscience, by helping to integrate, and provide a deeper analysis of, different experimental results.
Contact
Dr. Levin Kuhlmann
Neuroengineering Group
Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering
The University of Melbourne
Victoria 3010
AUSTRALIA
Email: levink@unimelb.edu.au
Phone: (+61 3) 8344 6689
Fax: (+61 3) 8344 6713
More information
- Neuroengineering website.