Neurobiology Prep-Course 2024

This course is intended as bridge for students enrolled in Computational Neuroscience. The aim is to provide the basics in neurophysiology.

The module provides an overview of the current state of brain research and a summary of the fundamental biological background necessary for the design and implementation of models. After completing the module, participants should understand the general architecture of the mammalian brain with its major components and areas including circuitry, the major cell types and their function and the basic physiological principles that govern brain function. Participating students will be given an introduction to state-of-the-art research approaches in various disciplines of neuroscience including behavioral neuroscience, electrophysiology and imaging techniques. The emphasis of the course is on imparting the absolutely necessary basics required for modeling biologically relevant information systems.

The course covers basic neuroscience largely following the approach used in the textbook Bears, Connors & Paradiso. The course begins with a basic introduction to cells and neurons, the basic physiology of nerve cells and basic anatomy of the brain including the specific circuitry of major subregions such as the neocortex, hippocampus, limbic system, cerebellum and the basal ganglia. After this introduction, specific biologically based topics of interest to computational neuroscientist are treated including sensory transduction and different modalities, learning and memory, biological constraints on coding in the brain, large-scale approaches to understanding the brain, neuroscience in the laboratory and behavioural neuroscience. Time is given at the mid-point and end of the course for revision and discussions of relevant topics of interest to the students.