Launched in 2022, Dynamics Club is a UCLA-based forum for junior scientists to discuss nonlinear dynamics in biology and physiology. Starting from 2024, this is also the home for the Interoception Dynamics Affinity Group.

Our monthly seminars are mostly on Zoom, with hybrid access to in-person events. Campus visits are made possible by the Department of Integrative Biology and Physiology (IBP), Institute for Quantitative and Computational Biosciences (QCBio) and Brain Research Institute (BRI).

Currently, we have 340 members. If you’re new, sign up here!

   

Job opportunities:

   

Key References (PDFs are available online):

Modeling Life by Alan Garfinkel, Jane Shetsov and Yina Guo (Teaching Materials)

   

Dynamics Club in November (SfN):

Falling asleep follows a predictable bifurcation dynamic

Speaker: Junheng Li, PhD (Postdoctoral Researcher; Imperial College London)

Date and Time: Nov 20 (Thursday) at 3pm Pacific Time / 6pm Eastern Time

Hybrid Event: Boyer Hall 554 and on Zoom (Meeting ID: 910 1626 6547; Passcode: 721030)

Abstract:
Sleep is a fundamental part of our lives; yet, how our brain falls asleep remains one of the most enduring mysteries of neuroscience. Here we report a new conceptual framework to analyze and model this phenomenon. The framework represents the changes in brain electroencephalogram activity during the transition into sleep as a trajectory in a normalized feature space. We use the framework to show that the brain’s wake-to-sleep transition follows bifurcation dynamics with a distinct tipping point preceded by a critical slowing down. We validate the bifurcation dynamics in two independent datasets, which include more than 1,000 human participants. Finally, we demonstrate the framework’s utility by predicting a person’s progression into sleep in real time with seconds temporal resolution and over 0.95 average accuracy.

DynamicsClub

   

Scheduled Sessions:

Date Topic Speaker(s)
Dec 2 Neurophysiological principles of reward Dr. Annie Park
(Oxford University)
2026 Pulsed stimuli enable p53 phase resetting to synchronize single cells and modulate cell fate Dr. Harish Venkatachalapathy (UMN)
2026 Longitudinal monitoring of developmental plasticity in the mouse auditory cortex Dr. Megan Kirchgessner (NYU)

Past Events in 2025:

Date Topic Speaker(s) Materials
Jan 22 Imaging cAMP Signaling Dynamics in the Heart: Exploring Sympathetic Responses in Real Time Jessica Caldwell, PhD (UC Davis) Pubmed
Feb 7 State-Dependent Taste Modulation: Mechanisms of Sodium Appetite and Tolerance Yameng Zhang (Oka Lab; Caltech) Pubmed
Mar 5 Cell signaling in “4D”: Dynamic p53 post-translational modifications regulate cell fate Dan Lu, PhD (Harvard Medical School) Pubmed
Mar 20 Exploring the developmental roles of glia in the heart Sarah Light, PhD (Notre Dame) Pubmed
Apr 30 Detecting patterns and disruptions in spontaneous physiological fluctuations in the kidney using MRI Edwin Baldelomar, PhD (WashU) Pubmed
May 7 Sleep is for brain cleaning: investigating drivers of the glymphatic system Natalie Hauglund, PhD (Oxford) Pubmed
Jun 12 Mechano-Electro-Chemical Coupling in Neuromodulation and Neuronal Injury Casey Adam, DPhil (Purdue) Link
Aug 12 Sleep microstructure organizes memory replay Wenbo Tang, PhD (Cornell) Pubmed
Aug 21 Genetic and Molecular Strategies for Unraveling Sensory Circuit Development David YC Chen, PhD (Temple) Pubmed
Sep 16 Investigating the Bistability in Coordinated Oscillations of Pancreatic Islets Nicole Bruce, PhD (University of Tennessee) Pubmed
Oct 27 Forces that shape the embryo: Mechanical control of gastrulation dynamics Paolo Caldarelli, PhD (Caltech) Pubmed
Nov 4 Robust and resource-optimal dynamic pattern formation of Min proteins in vivo Michael Sandler (Jun Lab; UCSD) Pubmed

   

Past Events in 2024

Past Events in 2023

Past Events in 2022