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.

The state of the field regarding the diagnosis and treatment of major depressive disorder (MDD) is discussed. Current challenges and opportunities facing the research and clinical communities are outlined, including appropriate quantitative and qualitative analyses of the heterogeneity of biological, social, and psychiatric factors which may contribute to MDD.

This lesson delves into the opportunities and challenges of telepsychiatry. While novel digital approaches to clinical research and care have the potential to improve and accelerate patient outcomes, researchers and care providers must consider new population factors, such as digital disparity. 

This lesson explains the fundamental principles of neuronal communication, such as neuronal spiking, membrane potentials, and cellular excitability, and how these electrophysiological features of the brain may be modelled and simulated digitally. 

This is a continuation of the talk on the cellular mechanisms of neuronal communication, this time at the level of brain microcircuits and associated global signals like those measureable by electroencephalography (EEG). This lecture also discusses EEG biomarkers in mental health disorders, and how those cortical signatures may be simulated digitally.

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 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 goes into further detail about the hard problem of developing a scientific discipline for subjective consciousness.

This lecture focuses on how the immune system can target and attack the nervous system to produce autoimmune responses that may result in diseases such as multiple sclerosis, neuromyelitis, and lupus cerebritis manifested by motor, sensory, and cognitive impairments. Despite the fact that the brain is an immune-privileged site, autoreactive lymphocytes producing proinflammatory cytokines can cause active brain inflammation, leading to myelin and axonal loss.

This lecture will provide an overview of neuroimaging techniques and their clinical applications.

This lecture picks up from the previous lesson, providing an overview of neuroimaging techniques and their clinical applications.

This lesson discusses both state-of-the-art detection and prevention schema in working with neurodegenerative diseases. 

This lesson provides a basic introduction to clinical presentation of schizophrenia, its etiology, and current treatment options.

This lecture provides an overview of depression (epidemiology and course of the disorder), clinical presentation, somatic co-morbidity, and treatment options.

In this lesson, you will learn about how genetics can contribute to our understanding of psychiatric phenotypes.

This lecture focuses on the rationale for employing neuroimaging methods for movement disorders.

This lecture provides an overview of some of the essential concepts in neuropharmacology (e.g. receptor binding, agonism, antagonism), an introduction to pharmacodynamics and pharmacokinetics, and an overview of the drug discovery process relative to diseases of the central nervous system. 

This lesson provides an introduction to neurons, synaptic transmission, and ion channels.

This lecture gives an introduction to the types of glial cells, homeostasis (influence of cerebral blood flow and influence on neurons), insulation and protection of axons (myelin sheath; nodes of Ranvier), microglia and reactions of the CNS to injury.