15-883: Computational Models of Neural Systems
Spring 2005

General Class Information

Date/Time/Place: Mondays/Wednesdays, 4:30 to 5:50 PM, starting January 10, 2005, in Wean Hall 4615A

Instructor:

Dave Touretzky

Office: 8128 Wean Hall (drop by any time, or email for an appointment)

email: dst@cs.cmu.edu, phone: 412-268-7561

Credits: 12 units (CMU), 4 credits (Pitt), 1 core unit (CS or Robotics)

Materials:

Selected journal articles and book chapters. Copies are available from Jennifer Landefeld in Wean Hall 8120 and in a readings book at the reservation desk in the E&S library.

Evaluation: problem sets, small programming project, and midterm and final exams.

Prerequisite:

Prior familiarity with either computer science or neuroscience. Computer science students should have passed an AI course. Neuroscience students should have at least some prior experience with computation, such as an undergraduate programming class.

Description:

This course is an in-depth study of information processing in real neural systems from a computer science perspective. We will examine several brain areas, such as the hippocampus and cerebellum, where processing is sufficiently well understood that it can be discussed in terms of specific representations and algorithms. We will focus primarily on computer models of these systems, after establishing the necessary anatomical, physiological, and psychophysical context. There will be some neuroscience tutorial lectures for those with no prior background in this area.

Recommended Books on Computational Neuroscience:

• P.S. Churchland and T.J. Sejnowski (1992) The Computational Brain. MIT Press.
• P. Dayan and L.F. Abbott (2001) Theoretical Neuroscience. MIT Press.
• T. Trappenberg (2002) Fundamentals of Computational Neuroscience. Oxford University Press.
• P.S. Churchland (2002) Brain-Wise: Studies in Neural Philosphy. MIT Press.

Online Resources:

The Whole Brain Atlas

Getting Started with MATLAB

MATLAB Function Reference