Angus Silver
{{short description|English neuroscientist}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox scientist
| name = Angus Silver
| honorific_suffix = {{post-nominals|country=GBR|FRS|size=100%}}
| birth_name = Robin Angus Silver
| image = Angus Silver Royal Society.jpg
| caption = Silver in 2017
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| fields = Neuroscience
Neuroinformatics
Microscopy
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| education =
| alma_mater = Coventry Polytechnic
University College London
| thesis_title = Calcium as a second messenger in neuronal growth cones
| thesis_url = http://catalogue.libraries.london.ac.uk/record=b1597572
| thesis_year = 1990
| doctoral_advisor =
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| website = {{URL|http://silverlab.org}}
}}
Robin Angus Silver is an English neuroscientist who is professor of neuroscience and a Wellcome Trust Principal Research Fellow at University College London.{{Scopus id}}{{EuropePMC|ORCID=0000-0002-5480-6638}} His laboratory studies neurotransmission and artificial neural networks by combining in vitro and in vivo experimental approaches with quantitative analysis and computational models developed in silico.
Education
Silver was educated at Coventry Polytechnic, where he graduated in 1986 with a Bachelor of Science degree in physical sciences.{{cite web|author=Anon|year=2017|url=http://iris.ucl.ac.uk/iris/browse/profile?upi=ASILV65|website=iris.ucl.ac.uk|title=Professor Angus Silver at UCL|access-date=2017-08-16|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171006170849/http://iris.ucl.ac.uk/iris/browse/profile?upi=ASILV65|archive-date=2017-10-06|url-status=dead}} He completed postgraduate study at University College London, where he was awarded a PhD in neuroscience in 1990 for research investigating calcium signalling and second messenger systems in neural growth cones.{{cite thesis |degree=PhD |first=Robin Angus|last=Silver |title=Calcium as a second messenger in neuronal growth cones |publisher=University of London |date=1990 |url=http://catalogue.libraries.london.ac.uk/record=b1597572 |website=london.ac.uk |oclc=941024084 }}
Research and career
Silver's work has contributed to our understanding of synaptic and neuronal function and to information processing in the brain.{{cite journal|last1=Rothman|first1=Jason Seth|last2=Kocsis|first2=Laszlo|last3=Herzog|first3=Etienne|last4=Nusser|first4=Zoltan|last5=Silver|first5=Robin Angus|title=Physical determinants of vesicle mobility and supply at a central synapse|journal=eLife|volume=5|issue=e15133|year=2016|issn=2050-084X|doi=10.7554/eLife.15133|pmid=27542193 |pmc=5025287 |doi-access=free }} {{open access}} By developing and applying methods for quantifying synaptic properties his work has shown how central synapses transmit and transform signals and can sustain high frequency signalling. He has quantified the functional properties of electrical synapses and established how neurons can perform certain arithmetic operations.{{cite journal|last1=Silver|first1=R. Angus|title=Neuronal arithmetic|journal=Nature Reviews Neuroscience|volume=11|issue=7|year=2010|pages=474–489|issn=1471-003X|doi=10.1038/nrn2864|pmid=20531421|pmc=4750293 }}
Using theoretical approaches, he has provided insights into the structure and function of neural circuits, showing that synaptic connectivity within the cerebellar input layer is optimal for encoding information and separating overlapping activity patterns.
Silver's group have developed new tools for studying circuit function. These include a high-speed random access 3D scanning fluorescence microscope that uses an acousto-optic lens to scan and focus the laser beam, enabling measurement of spatially distributed neuronal activity at high speed. He has also coordinated the development of software for building models of neural circuits, (neuroConstruct),{{cite journal|last1=Gleeson|first1=Padraig|last2=Steuber|first2=Volker|last3=Silver|first3=R. Angus|title=neuroConstruct: A Tool for Modeling Networks of Neurons in 3D Space|journal=Neuron|volume=54|issue=2|year=2007|pages=219–235|issn=0896-6273|doi=10.1016/j.neuron.2007.03.025|pmid=17442244 |pmc=1885959}} a language for standardising model descriptions (NeuroML),{{cite journal|last1=Friston|first1=Karl J.|last2=Gleeson|first2=Padraig|last3=Crook|first3=Sharon|last4=Cannon|first4=Robert C.|last5=Hines|first5=Michael L.|last6=Billings|first6=Guy O.|last7=Farinella|first7=Matteo|last8=Morse|first8=Thomas M.|last9=Davison|first9=Andrew P.|last10=Ray|first10=Subhasis|last11=Bhalla|first11=Upinder S.|last12=Barnes|first12=Simon R.|last13=Dimitrova|first13=Yoana D.|last14=Silver|first14=R. Angus|title=NeuroML: A Language for Describing Data Driven Models of Neurons and Networks with a High Degree of Biological Detail|journal=PLOS Computational Biology|volume=6|issue=6|year=2010|pages=e1000815|issn=1553-7358|doi=10.1371/journal.pcbi.1000815|pmid=20585541 |pmc=2887454|bibcode=2010PLSCB...6E0815G |doi-access=free }} {{open access}} and a repository of standardized models and infrastructure for collaborative model development, OpenSourceBrain.{{cite web|url=http://opensourcebrain.org/|website=OpenSourceBrain.org|title=Open Source Brain: Modelling the brain, together|author=Anon|year=2017}}{{cite journal|last1=Eglen|first1=Stephen J|last2=Marwick|first2=Ben|last3=Halchenko|first3=Yaroslav O|last4=Hanke|first4=Michael|last5=Sufi|first5=Shoaib|last6=Gleeson|first6=Padraig|last7=Silver|first7=R Angus|last8=Davison|first8=Andrew P|last9=Lanyon|first9=Linda|last10=Abrams|first10=Mathew|last11=Wachtler|first11=Thomas|last12=Willshaw|first12=David J|last13=Pouzat|first13=Christophe|last14=Poline|first14=Jean-Baptiste|title=Toward standard practices for sharing computer code and programs in neuroscience|journal=Nature Neuroscience|volume=20|issue=6|year=2017|pages=770–773|issn=1097-6256|doi=10.1038/nn.4550|pmid=28542156|pmc=6386137}}
Silver's research has been funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), European Research Council (ERC) and the Wellcome Trust.{{cite web|url=http://silverlab.org/members/|website=silverlab.org/members|title=Members of the Silver Lab|author=Anon|year=2017}}
=Awards and honours=
Silver was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS) in 2017.{{cite web|url=https://royalsociety.org/people/angus-silver-13421/|website=royalsociety.org|publisher=Royal Society|location=London|author=Anon|year=2017|title=Professor Angus Silver FRS}} One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from the royalsociety.org website where: {{blockquote|“All text published under the heading 'Biography' on Fellow profile pages is available under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.” --{{Cite web |url=https://royalsociety.org/about-us/terms-conditions-policies/ |title=Terms, conditions and policies | Royal Society |access-date=2016-03-09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161111170346/https://royalsociety.org/about-us/terms-conditions-policies/ |archive-date=2016-11-11 |url-status=bot: unknown }}}}
References
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Category:Fellows of the Royal Society
Category:British neuroscientists
Category:Alumni of Coventry University
Category:Alumni of University College London