Idan Segev

Idan Segev is the David & Inez Myers Professor in Computational Neuroscience and former director of the Interdisciplinary Center for Neural Computation (ICNC) at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, where he received his B.Sc (1973) in Math and Ph.D (1982) in experimental and theoretical neurobiology.

His post-doctoral studies at the National Institute of Health (1982-1985) was focused on modeling nerve cells as information processing microchips. His research team utilizes computational and theoretical tools to study how neurons, the elementary microchips of the brain, compute and dynamically adapt to our ever-changing environment. 

In recent years, Segev's laboratory has worked jointly with several experimental groups worldwide in an endeavor to model in detail the cortical column – a functional unit containing thousands of intensely but very specifically connected networks of neurons. The ultimate goal is to unravel how local fine variations within the cortical network underlie specific behavioral function and may give rise to certain brain diseases or to a healthy and “individual” brains.

Idan Segev takes a keen interest in the connection between art and the brain. He believes that implicitly artists know a lot about our brain as they often succeed to “tap” into it (and make us deeply enjoy) their art; thus these “two cultures” should meet and exchange knowledge and intuitions. He is also puzzled by the recent appearance of art in the brain of the Homo sapiens, some 70,000 years or so ago. What is it in the brain that enables art? His recent pride is an “Artists” book that he has edited with original etchings by ten top Israeli artists prompted by an encounter with ICNC researchers.



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