Pereira interprets neurology in dynamic systems.

Is it possible to predict when a certain pathological behavior may arise? Researcher Thiago Pereira, from the Institute of Mathematical and Computer Sciences (ICMC) at USP, in São Carlos, addressed the problem this Tuesday (25) during the International Conference on Dynamical Systems, which takes place at IMPA until next Friday (28).

The professor, who studies behaviors in non-linear dynamic systems such as the brain, analyzes how a network of neurons interacts and seeks to understand the transformations that occur in complex systems that lead, for example, to the emergence of diseases such as epilepsy or Parkinson's.

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"Sometimes the coordination between neurons becomes very strong, and they start doing the same thing at the same time, eventually dominating everything else. In particular, in Parkinson's disease, they begin to exhibit a certain behavior that is reflected in the arm. One way doctors try to control the disease is by giving a shock to this group of neurons to break the coordination they have," explained the researcher.

The challenge that motivates Pereira to continue studying this system is to build a mathematical model that can predict when a pathological behavior will emerge.

Thiago Pereira estuda comportamentos em sistemas dinâmicos não-lineares

During the pandemic, Thiago Pereira was part of a large group of researchers who focused on studies about the probability of contracting the COVID-19 virus among those attending an open-air market in Alagoas. The results showed that the chances of contracting the virus at the market were much lower compared to a supermarket or a hospital.

This year, Thiago Pereira won the 2022 Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel Research Prize for his mathematical contributions to the field of complex dynamical networks and collective behavior.

Other lectures

Also participating in the second day of the conference was researcher Lorenzo Diaz (PUC-Rio). In a relaxed presentation, the researcher spoke about the Lyapunov exponent. He demonstrated that positive entropies exist even when using a Lyapunov exponent of zero, which shows a different result than what is normally expected in more classic cases in the field.

Lorenzo Diaz falou sobre o expoente de Lyapunov

The subject has already been addressed in the past by the director-general of IMPA, which encouraged the speaker to address the topic this Tuesday (25).

"Perhaps Marcelo is still interested in Lyapunov exponents, and I hope that my results were not completely contradictory or at least match Marcelo's results," he said in a relaxed tone.

Also participating in the conference were researchers Vadim Kaloshin (IST Austria); Pedro Duarte (Lisbon) and Stefano Marmi (SNS-Pisa). They addressed expanding circle maps; the regularity of Lyapunov exponents and Brjuno functions respectively.

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Conference pays tribute to the Director-General of IMPA.