The Current

Issue date: 3/3/08 Section: Features

Media Credit: Matthew Hill Sonya Bahar, assistant professor of physics and astronomy, discusses her current research on synchronization in mammalian neural systems while in her office in Benton Hall.

A week in the life of Sonya Bahar she describes as "frantic running from Sunday night until Friday night". Bahar is a woman who has truly learned the meaning to the words 'multi task.'

This may be because she is the assistant professor of biophysics, the director for the Center of Neurodynamics, the editor of both The Journal of Biological Physics and The Biological Physicist, teacher of Physics 1011 and 1012 as well as a graduate Chaos Theory class.

She is currently a researcher of synchronization in mammalian neural systems as well as the biophysics of brain activity.

All things science consume most of Bahar's everyday life.

She mainly focuses on the synchronization of neurons in the brain, in order to make new breakthroughs in the study of epilepsy, a neurological disorder which causes unprovoked seizures.

In an interview, Bahar described what her research focuses on and how this research could, in the future, help prevent seizures.

"Basically the main theme of what we are doing is to look at how neurons behave and to do that both experimentally with real neuroscience lab research but also [by applying] physics techniques." Bahar explained

Essentially, Bahar and some select graduate students (including Roxana Contreras), use brain imaging data from groups at Washington University and St. Louis University in their research of the brain, and then interpret the results using physics techniques.

Since the human brain is so complex, Bahar attempted to explain her research in laymen's terms, beginning with neurons.

"[In the brain] neurons are all coupled to each other. Each neuron gives periodic electrical signals, but then each neuron is coupled to a lot of other neurons as well. So they gave their little signals… but they also give signals to each other." Bahar said.

"So then we have a very complex system where you have lots of interconnected neurons that are all talking to each other. And the way they talk to each other, or signal to each other is really important both for normal thought processes and for disease," Bahar went on to say.

Continued...

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