Neuroscience stream
For the fourth year in a row AACIMP Summer School devotes one of the streams to neuroscience. This dynamic and constantly evolving field of science is at the intersection of physiology, engineering and computer science tackling questions of brain organization and function in normal and pathological conditions due to trauma or disease.
The neuroscience stream will provide insight into a broad range of topics including dynamical principles of visual and auditory systems, rhythm generation, neuromechanics of movement control, neuron-computer interface in dynamic-clamp experiments, brain computer interfaces. We will use practical examples of applications of modeling and biosignal analysis for functional assessment of movement control mechanisms and dynamics of sensory systems. In general the goal of NS stream is to provide participants with the essential review of the contemporary computational neuroscience field and to give practical introduction to the principles of analysis and simulation packages.
The core of the stream will be dedicated to learning signal analysis and modeling tools. The topic will be introduced for students with different backgrounds, e.g. neuroscience, physiology or engineering, using a combination of lectures and workshops. Students will be encouraged to explore the bottom-up organization of the sensorimotor system using simulations in Matlab, OpenSim, or/and AnimatLab that express neuromechanical computations in decomposed elements that are integrated within these environments to generate a complete behavior. We will also cover linear and nonlinear methods applied to dynamics of single neurons, neuronal networks and musculoskeletal systems with sensory feedback.
We will utilize the discovery learning approach based on group projects to introduce complex theoretical topics and computational tools. All participants will be grouped into interdisciplinary teams to combine the strength of students with different backgrounds. The projects will deal with the increased system complexity and emergent properties of multiple interacting neuromechanical elements. The progress of students will be assessed through evaluation of quizzes and the presentation at the end of the course. The final presentations will be made by the students in a setting imitating a conference presentation.
Courses of the stream are:
- Neurons as dynamical systems and regimes of neuronal activity(6h)
- Multistability in Neuronal Dynamics (4h)
- Multicompartmental and stochastic models(1h)
- Computational Psychiatry and Computational Neurology: New Disciplines(2h)
- Cybernetics, AI, Cognitive Science and Computational Neuroscience: Historical Aspects (1h)
- Computational Social Science(2h)
- Circadian Clock in Mammals(4h)
- Auditory System(4h)
- Detailed model of visual cortex(2h)
- Phase resetting theory for deterministic and stochastic neural systems(4h)
- Molecular Mechanisms of Pain(4h)
- Neuromechanics of movement control(10h)
Prerequisites
Basic calculus, desire to explore and discover.
Tutors of the stream are:
Dr. Pavel Belan, Head of Research Group at the Department of General Physiology of the Nervous System, Bogomolets Institute of Physiology of the NASU, Kyiv, Ukraine.
Dr. Gennady S. Cymbalyuk, Associate Professor, Dynamical Neuroscience Laboratory, Neuroscience Institute, Georgia State University, Atlanta, USA.
Prof. Péter Érdi, Henry R. Luce Professor, Kalamazoo College, Kalamazoo, USA
Dr. Nikolai Kononenko, Leading Researcher, Department of General Physiology of Nervous System, Bogomolets Institute of Physiology of the NASU, Kyiv, Ukraine
Mr. Ilya Kuzovkin, MSc., researcher at the Department of Computer Science, University of Tartu, Estonia.
Dr. Ruben Tikidji-Hamburyan, Senior Researcher, A.B.Kogan Research Institute for Neurocybernetics, Southern Federal University, Rostov-on-Don, Russia; Visiting Researcher, Louisiana State University, Health Sciences Center, New Orleans, USA.
Dr. Nana Voitenko, Head of the Laboratory of Sensory signalling, Department of General Physiology of Nervous System, Bogomolets Institute of Physiology of the NASU, Kyiv, Ukraine.
Dr. Sergiy Yakovenko, Assistant Professor, Neural Engineering Laboratory, West Virginia University School of Medicine, WV, USA.
Number of credits: 3 ECTS (P/F), or 4 US credit hours
Additionally 3 ECTS can be obtained from participation in the joint poster session.
In order to apply for Summer School please fill in the online application form.