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 gives an in-depth introduction of ethics in the field of artificial intelligence, particularly in the context of its impact on humans and public interest. As the healthcare sector becomes increasingly affected by the implementation of ever stronger AI algorithms, this lecture covers key interests which must be protected going forward, including privacy, consent, human autonomy, inclusiveness, and equity.
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 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 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 covers a lot of post-war developments in the science of the mind, focusing first on the cognitive revolution, and concluding with living machines.
This lesson delves into the the structure of one of the brain's most elemental computational units, the neuron, and how said structure influences computational neural network models.
In this lesson you will learn how machine learners and neuroscientists construct abstract computational models based on various neurophysiological signalling properties.
This lesson delves into the human nervous system and the immense cellular, connectomic, and functional sophistication therein.
This lesson characterizes different types of learning in a neuroscientific and cellular context, and various models employed by researchers to investigate the mechanisms involved.
This lesson describes spike timing-dependent plasticity (STDP), a biological process that adjusts the strength of connections between neurons in the brain, and how one can implement or mimic this process in a computational model. You will also find links for practical exercises at the bottom of this page.
In this lesson, you will learn about some of the many methods to train spiking neural networks (SNNs) with either no attempt to use gradients, or only use gradients in a limited or constrained way.
In this lesson, you will learn how to train spiking neural networks (SNNs) with a surrogate gradient method.
In this lesson you will learn about the motivation behind manipulating neural activity, and what forms that may take in various experimental designs.
In this lesson, you will learn about one particular aspect of decision making: reaction times. In other words, how long does it take to take a decision based on a stream of information arriving continuously over time?