Gemechu Bekele Tolossa

Program: Neurosciences

Current advisor: Keith B. Hengen, PhD

Undergraduate university: Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, 2018

Enrollment year: 2021

Research summary
I study how cortical networks maintain stable dynamics near criticality using computational models and electrophysiology, and how this varies across brain states and diseases.

My research is in computational and systems neuroscience. My first project looked at how spike train patterns vary across brain regions using machine learning. Currently, I am studying how neuronal networks operate near criticality by combining computational modeling with electrophysiology. I build neuronal network models at different levels of biological realism and perturb them to understand their dynamics. The main question I am trying to answer is how cortical microcircuits maintain stable dynamics without tipping into supercritical chaos. I am also testing this optogenetically in vivo. In addition, I quantify how close various brain signals (spikes, LFP, EEG, fMRI) are to criticality and how this changes across brain states like wake and sleep, as well as in disease conditions.

Graduate publications
Tolossa GB, Schneider AM, Dyer E, Hengen KB. 2025 Neurons throughout the brain embed robust signatures of their anatomical location into spike trains. Elife, 13():RP101506. PMCID: PMC12204685