Abstract:
Computational neuroscience is an emerging field that aims at understanding the processing occurring in the nervous systems by means of computational modelling. It spans a large range of methods that include brain decoding using machine learning and network modelling. In addition to providing an understanding of the brain, it can also provide possible explanations to perturbations in normal processing associated with neurological and psychiatric disorders. It can also inspire new technologies that emulate the processing in the brain advancing the field of machine learning. Such relationship between neuroscience and machine learning is emphasized in the field of vision. Computer vision has been recently successful in mimicking multiple computation techniques in the human visual cortex. This allows scientists to use both systems to study different brain functions that affect mental and brain health. I will present work on how I used these methods to identify processing deficits in disorders such as schizophrenia, depression and how they relate to daily functioning such as sleep and cognitive abilities.

Bio:
Mohamed is a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Krembil Centre for Neuroinformatics where he works on using computational neuroscience and machine and deep learning to model psychiatric disorders and neural processing. He combines the tools of NeuroAI and psychiatry to understand how the brain dynamics and connectivity changes in relation to psychiatric disorders. He is a recipient of the Canada Brain Stars Award and the Neuro – Irv and Hilga Cooper Open Science International Trainee Award.
Originating from Alexandria Egypt, Mohamed developed his interest in the human brain while studying electrical engineering in Alexandria University. He then moved to Japan for his graduate studies where he investigated the human visual cortex and modelling its computations using deep neural networks and brain decoding. He later worked as a Postdoctoral Researcher at Washington University in St. Louis developing brain-inspired machine-learning models to predict post-surgical medical outcomes. He also worked as a researcher at Kyoto University Hospital studying neural activity markers of schizophrenia using brain-decoding techniques. He is the founder of Arabs in Neuroscience, a grassroots organization that focuses on elevating the standing of Arab neuroscientists and helping aspiring students join the field.