This lesson is a general overview of overarching concepts in neuroinformatics research, with a particular focus on clinical approaches to defining, measuring, studying, diagnosing, and treating various brain disorders. Also described are the complex, multi-level nature of brain disorders and the data associated with them, from genes and individual cells up to cortical microcircuits and whole-brain network dynamics. Given the heterogeneity of brain disorders and their underlying mechanisms, this lesson lays out a case for multiscale neuroscience data integration.

This is the first of two workshops on reproducibility in science, during which participants are introduced to concepts of FAIR and open science. After discussing the definition of and need for FAIR science, participants are walked through tutorials on installing and using Github and Docker, the powerful, open-source tools for versioning and publishing code and software, respectively.

This lesson contains both a lecture and a tutorial component. The lecture (0:00-20:03 of YouTube video) discusses both the need for intersectional approaches in healthcare as well as the impact of neglecting intersectionality in patient populations. The lecture is followed by a practical tutorial in both Python and R on how to assess intersectional bias in datasets. Links to relevant code and data are found below. 

This lesson describes the fundamentals of genomics, from central dogma to design and implementation of GWAS, to the computation, analysis, and interpretation of polygenic risk scores. 

This lesson contains the slides (pptx) of a lecture discussing the necessary concepts and tools for taking into account population stratification and admixture in the context of genome-wide association studies (GWAS). The free-access software Tractor and its advantages in GWAS are also discussed. 

This lesson is an overview of transcriptomics, from fundamental concepts of the central dogma and RNA sequencing at the single-cell level, to how genetic expression underlies diversity in cell phenotypes. 

This lesson describes the principles underlying functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI), tractography, and parcellation. These tools and concepts are explained in a broader context of neural connectivity and mental health. 

This lesson breaks down the principles of Bayesian inference and how it relates to cognitive processes and functions like learning and perception. It is then explained how cognitive models can be built using Bayesian statistics in order to investigate how our brains interface with their environment. 

This lesson corresponds to slides 1-64 in the PDF below. 

This lesson gives a description of the BrainHealth Databank, a repository of many types of health-related data, whose aim is to accelerate research, improve care, and to help better understand and diagnose mental illness, as well as develop new treatments and prevention strategies. 

This lesson corresponds to slides 46-78 of the PDF below. 

This lecture discusses what defines an integrative approach regarding research and methods, including various study designs and models which are appropriate choices when attempting to bridge data domains; a necessity when whole-person modelling. 

This lecture covers the emergence of cognitive science after the Second World War as an interdisciplinary field for studying the mind, with influences from anthropology, cybernetics, and artificial intelligence.

This lecture provides an introduction to Plato’s concept of rationality and Aristotle’s concept of empiricism, and the enduring discussion between rationalism and empiricism to this day.

This lecture covers different perspectives on the study of the mental, focusing on the difference between Mind and Brain. 

This lecture covers the three big questions: What is the universe?, what is life?, and what is consciousness?

This lecture covers the history of behaviorism and the ultimate challenge to behaviorism. 

This lecture covers various learning theories.

This lesson briefly goes over the outline of the Neuroscience for Machine Learners course. 

Whereas the previous two lessons described the biophysical and signalling properties of individual neurons, this lesson describes properties of those units when part of larger networks. 

This lesson goes over some examples of how machine learners and computational neuroscientists go about designing and building neural network models inspired by biological brain systems. 

This lesson delves into the human nervous system and the immense cellular, connectomic, and functional sophistication therein.