This lesson gives an introduction to high-performance computing with the Compute Canada network, first providing an overview of use cases for HPC and then a hands-on tutorial. Though some examples might seem specific to the Calcul Québec, all computing clusters in the Compute Canada network share the same software modules and environments.

In this lesson, you will learn in more detail about neuromorphic computing, that is, non-standard computational architectures that mimic some aspect of the way the brain works. 

This video provides a very quick introduction to some of the neuromorphic sensing devices, and how they offer unique, low-power applications.

This lesson goes over the basic mechanisms of neural synapses, the space between neurons where signals may be transmitted. 

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. 

This lesson discusses a gripping neuroscientific question: why have neurons developed the discrete action potential, or spike, as a principle method of communication? 

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

In this lesson, you will hear about some of the open issues in the field of neuroscience, as well as a discussion about whether neuroscience works, and how can we know?

This lecture provides an introduction to the principal of anatomical organization of neural systems in the human brain and spinal cord that mediate sensation, integrate signals, and motivate behavior.

This lecture focuses on the comprehension of nociception and pain sensation, highlighting how the somatosensory system and different molecular partners are involved in nociception.

This lesson continues with the second workshop on reproducible science, focusing on additional open source tools for researchers and data scientists, such as the R programming language for data science, as well as associated tools like RStudio and R Markdown. Additionally, users are introduced to Python and iPython notebooks, Google Colab, and are given hands-on tutorials on how to create a Binder environment, as well as various containers in Docker and Singularity.

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 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. 

As the previous lesson of this course described how researchers acquire neural data, this lesson will discuss how to go about interpreting and analysing the data.