Recent technological advancements uncovered the presence of anomalous diffusion in numerous natural systems such as water, complex fluids, porous media, fractal structures and networks, cell membrane, cytosol and nucleus, and sleep-wake transitions during sleep. Fractional order differential equations have been successfully used to model anomalous diffusion. In this talk I will present how anomalous diffusion affects 1) the propagation of action potentials in myelinated neurons and 2) the bio-transport of cerebral nitric oxide using mathematical modeling and corresponding numerical simulations.

Short Bio:

Corina Drapaca is a Professor in the Department of Engineering Science and Mechanics at Penn State University. Her research interests are in Multiscale and Multiphysics Modeling, Computational Analysis. In particular, in brain biomechanics, continuum mechanics, mathematical medicine, computational mechanics, medical image processing, elastography, inverse problems, and tumor growth.