227-1045-00L  Readings in Neuroinformatics (University of Zurich)

SemesterAutumn Semester 2020
LecturersW. von der Behrens, R. Hahnloser, S.‑C. Liu, V. Mante
Periodicityyearly recurring course
Language of instructionEnglish
CommentNo enrolment to this course at ETH Zurich. Book the corresponding module directly at UZH.
UZH Module Code: INI431

Mind the enrolment deadlines at UZH:
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Courses

NumberTitleHoursLecturers
227-1045-00 SReadings in Neuroinformatics (University of Zurich)
**Course at University of Zurich**

Besides the formal course hour, the course work will also require additional time (ca. 1 hour per week) to complete.


Location: please see VVZ UZH
1 hrs
Mon17:15-18:00UNI ZH .
W. von der Behrens, R. Hahnloser, S.‑C. Liu, V. Mante

Catalogue data

AbstractThirteen major areas of research have been selected, which cover the key concepts that have led to our current ideas of how the nervous system is built and functions. We will read both original papers and explore the conceptual the links between them and discuss the 'sociology' of science, the pursuit of basic science questions over a century of research."
ObjectiveIt is commonplace that scientists rarely cite literature that is older than 10 years and when they do, they usually cite one paper that serves as the representative for a larger body of work that has long since been incorporated anonymously in textbooks. Even worse, many authors have not even read the papers they cite in their own publications. This course, ‘Foundations of Neuroscience’ is one antidote. Thirteen major areas of research have been selected. They cover the key concepts that have led to our current ideas of how the nervous system is built and functions. Unusually, we will explore these areas of research by reading the original publications, instead of reading a digested summary from a textbook or review. By doing this, we will learn how the discoveries were made, what instrumentation was used, how the scientists interpreted their own findings, and how their work, often over many decades and linked together with related findings from many different scientists, generate the current views of mechanism and structure of the nervous system. To give one concrete example, in 1890 Roy and Sherrington showed that there was a neural activity-dependent regulation of blood flow in the brain. One hundred years later, Ogawa discovered that they could use Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) to measure a blood oxygen-level dependent (BOLD) signal, which they showed was neural activity-dependent. This discovery led to the development of human functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI), which has revolutionized neuropsychology and neuropsychiatry. We will read both these original papers and explore the conceptual links between them and discuss the ‘sociology’ of science, which in this case, the pursuit of basic science questions over a century of research, led to an explosion in applications. We will also explore the personalities of the scientists and the context in which they made their seminal discoveries. Each week , course members will be given original papers to read for homework and they will write a short abstract for each paper. We will then meet weekly with the course leader and an assistant for an hour-or-so long interactive seminar. An intimate knowledge of the papers will be assumed so that the discussion does not center simply on an explication of the contents of the papers. Assessment will be in the form of a written exam where students will be given a paper and asked to write a short abstract of its contents.
ContentIt is commonplace that scientists rarely cite literature that is older than 10 years and when they do, they usually cite one paper that serves as the representative for a larger body of work that has long since been incorporated anonymously in textbooks. Even worse, many authors have not even read the papers they cite in their own publications. This course, ‘Foundations of Neuroscience’ is one antidote. Thirteen major areas of research have been selected. They cover the key concepts that have led to our current ideas of how the nervous system is built and functions. Unusually, we will explore these areas of research by reading the original publications, instead of reading a digested summary from a textbook or review. By doing this, we will learn how the discoveries were made, what instrumentation was used, how the scientists interpreted their own findings, and how their work, often over many decades and linked together with related findings from many different scientists, generate the current views of mechanism and structure of the nervous system. To give one concrete example, in 1890 Roy and Sherrington showed that there was a neural activity-dependent regulation of blood flow in the brain. One hundred years later, Ogawa discovered that they could use Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) to measure a blood oxygen-level dependent (BOLD) signal, which they showed was neural activity-dependent. This discovery led to the development of human functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI), which has revolutionized neuropsychology and neuropsychiatry. We will read both these original papers and explore the conceptual links between them and discuss the ‘sociology’ of science, which in this case, the pursuit of basic science questions over a century of research, led to an explosion in applications. We will also explore the personalities of the scientists and the context in which they made their seminal discoveries. Each week , course members will be given original papers to read for homework and they will write a short abstract for each paper. We will then meet weekly with the course leader and an assistant for an hour-or-so long interactive seminar. An intimate knowledge of the papers will be assumed so that the discussion does not center simply on an explication of the contents of the papers. Assessment will be in the form of a written exam where students will be given a paper and asked to write a short abstract of its contents.

Performance assessment

Performance assessment information (valid until the course unit is held again)
Performance assessment as a semester course
ECTS credits3 credits
ExaminersR. Hahnloser, S.-C. Liu, V. Mante, W. von der Behrens
Typegraded semester performance
Language of examinationEnglish
RepetitionRepetition only possible after re-enrolling for the course unit.
Additional information on mode of examinationRegistration modalities, date and venue of this performance assessment are specified solely by UZH.

Learning materials

No public learning materials available.
Only public learning materials are listed.

Groups

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Restrictions

There are no additional restrictions for the registration.

Offered in

ProgrammeSectionType
Neural Systems and Computation MasterCompulsory Core CoursesOInformation