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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.

Difficulty level: Intermediate
Duration: 1:09:33
Speaker: : Sean Hill

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.

Difficulty level: Beginner
Duration: 1:16:04

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. 

Difficulty level: Beginner
Duration: 52:26

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. 

Difficulty level: Intermediate
Duration: 1:29:08

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. 

Difficulty level: Intermediate
Duration: 1:20:42
Speaker: : Etay Hay

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. 

Difficulty level: Intermediate
Duration: 1:47:22

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. 

Difficulty level: Beginner
Duration: 1:12:25
Speaker: : Joanna Yu

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.

Difficulty level: Beginner
Duration: 51:07

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

Difficulty level: Intermediate
Duration: 7:03
Speaker: : Marcus Ghosh

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

Difficulty level: Intermediate
Duration: 8:41
Speaker: : Marcus Ghosh

This lesson characterizes different types of learning in a neuroscientific and cellular context, and various models employed by researchers to investigate the mechanisms involved. 

Difficulty level: Intermediate
Duration: 3:54
Speaker: : Dan Goodman

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. 

Difficulty level: Intermediate
Duration: 12:50
Speaker: : Dan Goodman

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. 

Difficulty level: Intermediate
Duration: 9:24
Speaker: : Marcus Ghosh

In this lesson you will learn about the motivation behind manipulating neural activity, and what forms that may take in various experimental designs. 

Difficulty level: Intermediate
Duration: 8:42
Speaker: : Marcus Ghosh

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

Difficulty level: Intermediate
Duration: 9:34
Speaker: : Dan Goodman

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

Difficulty level: Beginner
Duration: 1:02:29
Speaker: : Nir Giladi

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

Difficulty level: Beginner
Duration: 46:07

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.

Difficulty level: Beginner
Duration: 40:32

This lecture covers integrating information within a network, modulating and controlling networks, functions and dysfunctions of hippocampal networks, and the integrative network controlling sleep and arousal.

Difficulty level: Beginner
Duration: 47:05

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.

Difficulty level: Beginner
Duration: 59:57