Neurobiology 204: Neurophysiology of
Central Circuits
Spring 2013
Time: Mondays and Wednesdays, 10:00am - 12:00pm
Location: Goldenson Building 229
Co-Directors: Rachel Wilson and Rick Born
Faculty:
Rick Born, John Assad, Michael Do, Chris Harvey, Margaret
Livingstone, John Maunsell, Rachel Wilson
TAs:
Allison Baker, Joe Bell, Andreas Liu
The mission of this course is to equip students with the knowledge they need to understand the fundamental concepts underlying current research in systems neuroscience.
PREREQUISITES
Attending the first class meeting is a prerequisite for attending the rest of the course, except by prior permission from one of the course directors. Basic facility with MATLAB is essential to completing some homeworks. Neuro 200/HST-130 (“Introduction to Neuroscience”) is recommended but not strictly required; if you have not taken this course, please let the instructors know at the first class meeting.
Schedule
Wednesday class will be a lecture, and Monday class will be a group discussion of a paper.
|
Unit |
Theme |
Faculty |
Wed lecture |
Mon discussion |
assignment (due Mon) |
|
1 |
Receptive fields: what, where, why? |
Born / Wilson |
paper summary |
||
|
2 |
Setting the limits of sensory detection |
Do |
Feb 11 |
paper summary |
|
|
3 |
Information and neural computations |
Wilson |
(no class Feb 18) |
(none) |
|
|
4 |
Adaptation and efficient coding |
Do / Liu |
Feb 25 |
paper critique |
|
|
5 |
Timing and precision in neural coding |
Assad |
Feb 27 |
paper critique |
|
|
6 |
Cortical architecture and computations |
Born / Wilson / Baker / Bell |
Mar 6 |
simulation exercise |
|
|
7 |
Dynamics in neural microcircuits |
Harvey |
Mar 13 |
Mar 25 |
experimental proposal |
|
8 |
Navigation: experiment and theory |
Harvey |
Mar 27 |
paper critique |
|
|
9 |
Neurons and perception |
Maunsell |
Apr 3 |
simulation exercise |
|
|
10 |
Plasticity and learning |
Born |
Apr 15 |
simulation exercise |
|
|
11 |
Cortical modules: how do we get them and what are they good for? |
Livingstone |
Apr 17 |
Apr 22 |
paper critique |
|
12 |
Attention |
Maunsell |
Apr 24 |
Apr 29 |
simulation exercise |
HOMEWORK
Please consult the guidelines for writing summaries and critiques.
Homeworks must be saved as Word doc or docx files (not as pdf files).
Name your file surname_X, where X is the Unit of the course. For example, Jane Smith’s assignment for Unit 3 would be called Smith_3.doc.
Please follow the Unit numbering convention on the syllabus.
Please e-mail homework to nb204homework@gmail.com by 10:00am Monday, before class begins. Homework not received by 10:00am sharp will be given zero credit. If your homework is received successfully, you will receive an automated email reply. If you don’t receive an automated reply, you should assume your email was not received on time. In this case, the only way you can be sure of receiving any credit is to hand-deliver a hard copy of your homework to the instructor by 10:00am. Given this, you are urged to send your email and check for an automated reply before 9:45am.
You may discuss the reading and assigned exercises with your classmates, and you may ask your classmates for feedback on your homework. However, any written work you submit must represent your own writing, and any simulations you submit must represent your own thinking.
TECHNICAL BACKGROUND MATERIAL
Additional background on some of the statistical and analytical methods we occasionally encounter in the course can be found here.
Grading
Grades will be lowered for repeated absenteeism or arriving late to class. Final grades will be computed as follows: homework - 80%, class participation - 20%.
PREVIOUS OFFERINGS
Syllabi from previous years are available from 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, and 2012.