Contact Information

University of Ottawa

School of Psychology

136 Jean Jacques Lussier, Ottawa, ON  K1N 6N5 Canada

 

Research interests

My research focuses on computational and quantitative investigations of neural connectivity and plasticity. The particular focus of my work is on investigating the mechanisms by which synaptic plasticity alters neuronal interactions as a result of learning, development, and reorganization following damage. My work explores two main themes: 1) the local changes in synaptic efficacy occurring at individual synaptic junctions; and 2) the global re-organization of complex cellular networks.

 

Publications By Year

2011

Rubinov, M., Sporns, O., Thivierge, J.P., Breakspear, M. (2011). Neurobiologically realistic determinants of self-organized criticality in large networks of spiking neurons. Public Library of Science: Computational Biology, 7, e1002038. [pdf]

Thivierge, J.P., & Cisek, P. (2011). Spiking neurons that keep the rhythm. Journal of Computational Neuroscience, 30, 589-605. [pdf]

Thivierge, J.P., Dandurand, F., Cousineau, D. (2011). A multi-state model of cortical memory. Proceedings of the IEEE International Joint Conference on Neural Networks.

2010

Arnall, S., Cheam, L.Y., Smart, C., Rengel, Fitzgerald, L., Thivierge, J.P., Rodger, J. (2010). Abnormal strategies during visual discrimination reversal learning in ephrin-A2-/- mice. Behavioral Brain Research, 209, 109-113. [pdf] 

Costain, W., Rasquniha, I., Slinn, J., Thivierge, J.P., Tauskela, J. (2010). Alloxan Induced Neuroprotection in Cultured Cortical Neurons Exposed to Oxygen Glucose Deprivation is Mediated through Alterations in Synaptic Function. Glycobiology, 20, 1451.

Honey, C.J., Thivierge, J.P., & Sporns, O. (2010). Can structure predict function in the human brain? Neuroimage, 52, 766-776. [pdf]

Thivierge, J.P. (2010). Computational developmental neuroscience: Capturing developmental trajectories from genes to cognition. IEEE Transactions on Autonomous Mental Development, 2, 51-58.[pdf]

2009

Thivierge, J.P. (2009). How does non-random spontaneous activity contribute to brain development? Neural Networks, 22, 901-912. [pdf] Covered in New Scientist.

 

2008

Thivierge, J.P. (2008). Neural diversity creates a rich repertoire of brain activity. Communicative & Integrative Biology, 1. [pdf] 

 

Shultz, T.R., Thivierge, J.P., & Laurin, K. (2008). Modeling the Characteristic-to-defining Features Shift in Concept Acquisition. Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society. 531-536. [pdf] 

 

Tauskela, J.S., Fang, H., Hewitt, M., Brunette, E., Ahuja, T., Thivierge, J.P., Comas, T., & Mealing, G.A. (2008). Elevated synaptic activity preconditions neurons against an in vitro model of ischemia. Journal of Biological Chemistry, 283, 34667-34676. [pdf]

 

Thivierge, J.P., & Cisek, P. (2008). Non-periodic synchronization in heterogeneous networks of spiking neurons. Journal of Neuroscience, 28, 7968-7978. With cover illustration. [pdf]

 

Thivierge, J.P. (2008). Higher derivatives of ERP responses to cross-modality processing. Neuroinformatics, 6, 35-46. [pdf]

 

2007

Thivierge, J.P. (2007). Functional Data Analysis of Cognitive Events in EEG. Proceedings of the IEEE International Conference on Systems, Man and Cybernetics, 2473-2478. [pdf]

 

Thivierge, J.P., & Balaban, E. (2007). Getting into shape: Optimal ligand gradients for axonal guidance. BioSystems, 90, 61-77. [pdf]

 

Shultz, T.R., Rivest, R., Egri, L., Thivierge, J.P., & Dandurand, F. Could knowledge-based neural learning be useful in developmental robotics? The case of KBCC. (2007). International Journal of Humanoid Robotics, 4, 245-279. [pdf]

 

Thivierge, J.P., & Marcus, G.F. (2007). The Topographic Brain: From Neural Connectivity to Cognition. Trends in Neurosciences, 30, 251-259. [pdf] With cover illustration.

 

Thivierge, J.P., Rivest, F., & Monchi, O. (2007). Spiking neurons, dopamine, and plasticity: Timing is everything, but concentration also matters. Synapse, 61, 375-390. [pdf]

 

2006

Shultz, T. R., Rivest, F., Egri, L., & Thivierge, J. P. (2006). Knowledge-based learning with KBCC. Proceedings of the International Conference on Development and Learning. Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN. [pdf]

 

Thivierge, J.P., & Marcus, G.F. (2006). Computational Developmental Neuroscience: Exploring the Interactions Between Genetics and Neural Activity. Proceedings of the IEEE International Joint Conference on Neural Networks, 9380-9388. [pdf]

 

2005

Thivierge, J.P., Titone, D., & Shultz, T.R. (2005). Simulating frontotemporal pathways involved in lexical ambiguity resolution. In B.G. Bara, L. Barsalou, & Bucciarelli, M. (Eds). Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society. (pp.2178-2183). [pdf]

 

Thivierge, J.P., & Balaban, E., (2005). Faithful retinotopic maps with local optimum rules, axonal competition, and hebbian learning. Proceedings of the IEEE International Joint Conference on Neural Networks, 2760-2765. [pdf]

 

Thivierge, J.P., Shultz, T.R., & Balaban, E. (2005, conference proceedings). A unified model of thalamocortical axon guidance. Proceedings of the AAAI Annual Conference. (pp.3-14). [pdf]

 

2000-2004

Thivierge, J.P., Dandurand, F., & Shultz, T.R. (2004). Transferring domain rules in a constructive network: Introducing RBCC. Proceedings of the IEEE International Joint Conference on Neural Networks. 1403-1409. [pdf]

 

Thivierge, J.P., & Shultz, T.R. (2003). Information networks with modular experts. M.H. Hamza (Ed.) Proceedings of the IASTED Conference on Artificial Intelligence and Applications. (pp. 753-758). Zurich. [pdf]

 

Thivierge, J.P., Rivest, F., & Shultz, T.R. (2003). A dual-phase technique for pruning constructive networks. Proceedings of the IEEE International Joint Conference on Neural Networks. (pp. 559-564). [pdf]

 

Thivierge, J.P., & Shultz, T.R. (2002). Finding relevant knowledge: KBCC applied to DNA splice-junction determination. Proceedings of the IEEE International Joint Conference on Neural Networks, pp. 1401-1405. [pdf]

 

Thivierge, J.P., Plowright, C.M.S., & Chan, T. (2002). Visual recognition of half-patterns by bumblebees. Journal of Behavioral Processes, 59, 185-191. [pdf]

 

Plowright, C.M.S., Landry, F., Church, D., Heyding, J., Dupuis-Roy, N., Thivierge, J.P., & Simonds, V. (2000). A change in orientation: Recognition of rotated patterns by bumblebees. Journal of Insect Behavior, 14, 113-127. [pdf]

Funding

National Academy of Sciences Keck Future Initiatives (NAKFI) Grant

NSERC (Canada) Postdoctoral Fellowship

FRSQ (Québec) Postdoctoral Fellowship

FQRNT (Québec) Postdoctoral Fellowship

FCAR (Québec) Ph.D. Scholarship

Tomlinson Scholarship (McGill University)

FCAR (Québec) Master's Scholarship

MRST Industrial Research Grant

Alma Mater (McGill University) Travel Grant

NSERC Summer Research Grant