This is the home page for the School of Informatics course "CNV: Computational Neuroscience of Vision", given by James A. Bednar in January-March 2013.
This course uses the Topographica neural simulator and the Computational Maps in the Visual Cortex book; see the topographica.org and computationalmaps.org web sites for more details on the simulator and book.
You will get a chance to run simulations of visual cortex development and function, and gain an understanding of what modeling can achieve, what it cannot, and how modeling can be done well. See the course descriptor or the lecture notes for more details on the topics to be covered.
This course differs from NIP in being much more qualitative, with very little mathematical work required, and by providing extensive background material on vision. It differs from NC by focusing on large numbers of units organized into topographic maps, rather than on more detailed study of individual neurons or small populations. It differs from CCN by being focused only on results from the neuroscience of vision and on models grounded on specific visual areas and circuits within them.
20 Mar 2013: A relevant seminar for CNV students: "How Activity Changes Synapses in the Mammalian Brain", Tobias Bonhoeffer, 4pm 20 March, Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh, Queen Street.
18 Mar 2013: Please fill out the CNV Course Survey!
18 Feb 2013: Another relevant seminar for CNV students: "The neural marketplace", Ken Harris, Imperial College London, Informatics Forum room 4.31/4.33, 11am Tuesday 19 February.
12 Feb 2013: CNV students should check out this very relevant seminar: "Mechanistic modelling of thalamocortical visual and somatosensory processing", Gaute Einevoll, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Informatics Forum room 4.31/4.33, 11am Tuesday 12 February.
21 Jan 2013: Due date for Assignment 1 extended due to Innovative Learning Week.
15 Jan 2013: Lectures are held in room 1.08 at 24 Buccleuch Place; sorry for having a link to the outdated schedule before!
15 Jan 2013: For MSc students wanting to work on computational neuroscience, CNV is excellent training for these summer projects: P074, P075, P076.
11 Sep 2012: These pages will be updated regularly once the semester begins, so please check this page and the lecture notes page at least weekly for news. Be sure to refresh both pages in your browser before deciding there is no news.
Once the course completes, please fill out the online course survey to let us know how it went. There is also a mid-term evaluation questionnaire during class to allow students to give feedback during the course itself.
Last updated: 2013/03/18 17:09:01
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