Shiva R. Sinha Contacts Publications Posters CV Pictures

Welcome to my web page! The page is rather sparse, more by design than chance, but feel free to contact me if you have questions. I'll be adding items to this page over time, so please visit again.

Currently, I am a graduate student in the Neuroscience and Cognitive Science (NACS) Program, University of Maryland, College Park. My interests focus on neurophysiological mechanisms and computational principles involved in Scene Analysis. To address these issues I study the abilities of the echolocating FM-bat, Eptesicus fisucs, using physiological, behavioral and computational methods.

Scene Analysis
        By scenes I refer to the complex juxtaposition of stimuli we routinely encounter in our environment. The stimuli could be in the visual, auditory, or somataosensory modalities, or a combination of them. By analysis I refer to the neural mechanisms employed to segregate and fuse different combinations of sensory stimuli, in order to extract " objects". The term object is used to refer to a particular combination of inputs, i.e. a combination of sensory inputs (like a specific N-dimemsional vector) proposed to arise from a single source, is refered to as an object.

        My specific research is directed to an understanding of mechanisms that support Auditory Scene Analysis (ASA). In the natural environment an echolocating bat is likely to encounter many echoes from each sonar pulse it generates. The echoes help the bat create a 3-dimensional representation of its environment. However, the mechanisms that are involved in analysing the auditory scene, are not entirely clear or trivial. My research looks at the response of single-units, at the level of the superior colliculus and the auditory cortex, to multiple echoes.

        Other than this research I have many other interests (not least of all in neuromorphic engineering), and also collaborate with the Computational and Sensorimotor Systems Laboratory (CSSL) in Electrical and Computer Engineering Department.

• Expression of KV3.1 in the Auditory Nuclei of the Echolocating Bat, Eptesicus fuscus (SFN 2001)
• Comparison of Anatomical Connections of the Superior Colliculus Underlying Behaviorally Relevant Motor Behaviors for Orienting in Vertebrates (ICN 2001)
• Circuitry for Orienting Behavior in the FM-bat, Eptesicus fuscus: Anatomical Connections of the Superior Colliculus(SFN 2000)
• Chemical stimulation of the superior colliculus evokes sonar vocalizations in the echolocating bat, Eptesicus fuscus (ARO 2000)
• Functional and Anatomical Organization of the Superior Colliculus of the Echolocating Bat (SFN 1999)

• Doreen E. Valentine, Shiva R. Sinha and Cynthia F. Moss (2002) Orienting responses and vocalizations produced by microstimulation in the superior colliculus of the echolocating bat, Eptesicus fuscus. In press, Journal of Comparative Physiology (A)

Shiva R. Sinha                                                                            tele: 301.405.0374
Neuroscience and Cognitive Science Program                             fax: 301.314.9566
Biology-Psychology Building                                                       e-mail: sinha@wam.umd.edu
University of Maryland
College Park, MD 20742