Summer Course

[Jim Bower]

                            Summer Course Announcement
 
                      Methods in Computational Neurobiology
 
                            
                            August 5th - September 1st
 
                           Marine Biological Laboratory
                                  Woods Hole, MA
 
This course is for advanced graduate students and postdoctoral fellows in
neurobiology, physics, electrical engineering, computer science and psychology 
with an interest in "Computational Neuroscience."  A background
in programming (preferably in C or PASCAL) is highly desirable and basic
knowledge of neurobiology is required.  Limited to 20 students.
 
This four-week course presents the basic techniques necessary to study
single cells and neural networks from a computational point of view, 
emphasizing their possible function in information processing.  The aim is to
enable participants to simulate the functional properties of their particular 
system of study and to appreciate the advantages and pitfalls of this
approach to understanding the nervous system.
 
The first section of the course focuses on simulating the electrical properties 
of single neurons (compartmental models, active currents, interactions 
between synapses, calcium dynamics).  The second section deals
with the numerical and graphical techniques necessary for modeling
biological neuronal networks.  Examples are drawn from the invertebrate
and vertebrate literature (visual system of the fly, learning in
Hermissenda, mammalian olfactory and visual cortex).  In the final section, 
connectionist neural networks relevant to perception and learning in
the mammalian cortex, as well as network learning algorithms will be analyzed 
and discussed from a neurobiological point of view.
 
The course includes lectures each morning and a computer laboratory in
the afternoons and evenings.  The laboratory section is organized around
GENESIS, the Neuronal Network simulator developed at the California
Institute of Technology, running on 20 state-of-the-art, single-user,
graphic color workstations.  Students initially work with GENESIS-based
tutorials and then are expected to work on a simulation project of their
own choosing.	
 
Co-Directors:
James M. Bower and Christof Koch, Computation and Neural Systems 
Program, California Institute of Technology
 
1990 summer faculty:
Ken Miller	   UCSF
Paul Adams	   Stony Brook
Idan Segev	   Jerusalem
David Rumelhart	   Stanford
John Rinzel	   NIH
Richard Andersen   MIT
David Van Essen	   Caltech
Kevin Martin	   Oxford
Al Selverston	   UCSD
Nancy Kopell   	   Boston U.
Avis Cohen	   Cornell
Rudolfo Llinas 	   NYU
Tom Brown* 	   Yale
Norberto Grzywacz* MIT
Terry Sejnowski	   UCSD/Salk
Ted Adelson	   MIT

*tentative
 
Application deadline:  May 15, 1990
 
Applications are evaluated by an admissions committee and individuals
are notified of acceptance or non-acceptance by June 1. Tuition:  $1,000
(includes room & board).  Financial aid is available to qualified applicants.
 
For further information contact:
Admissions Coordinator
Marine Biological Laboratory
Woods Hole, MA 02543
(508) 548-3705, ext. 216