The nervous system is made up of a large number of interacting elements. To understand how such a complex system functions requires the construction and analysis of computational models at many different levels. This book provides a step-by-step account of how to model the neuron and neural circuitry to understand the nervous system at all levels, from ion channels to networks. Starting with a simple model of the neuron as an electrical circuit, gradually more details are added to include the effects of neuronal morphology, synapses, ion channels and intracellular signalling. The principle of abstraction is explained through chapters on simplifying models, and how simplified models can be used in networks. This theme is continued in a final chapter on modelling the development of the nervous system. Requiring an elementary background in neuroscience and some high school mathematics, this textbook is an ideal basis for a course on computational neuroscience.
A comprehensive Introduction to the world of brain and behavior computational models This book provides a broad collection of articles covering different aspects of computational modeling efforts in psychology and neuroscience. Specifically, it discusses models that span different brain regions (hippocampus, amygdala, basal ganglia, visual cortex), different species (humans, rats, fruit flies), and different modeling methods (neural network, Bayesian, reinforcement learning, data fitting, and Hodgkin-Huxley models, among others). Computational Models of Brain and Behavior is divided into four sections: (a) Models of brain disorders; (b) Neural models of behavioral processes; (c) Models of neural processes, brain regions and neurotransmitters, and (d) Neural modeling approaches. It provides in-depth coverage of models of psychiatric disorders, including depression, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), schizophrenia, and dyslexia; models of neurological disorders, including Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, and epilepsy; early sensory and perceptual processes; models of olfaction; higher/systems level models and low-level models; Pavlovian and instrumental conditioning; linking information theory to neurobiology; and more. Covers computational approximations to intellectual disability in down syndrome Discusses computational models of pharmacological and immunological treatment in Alzheimer's disease Examines neural circuit models of serotonergic system (from microcircuits to cognition) Educates on information theory, memory, prediction, and timing in associative learning Computational Models of Brain and Behavior is written for advanced undergraduate, Master's and PhD-level students—as well as researchers involved in computational neuroscience modeling research.
A guide to computational modeling methods in neuroscience, covering a range of modeling scales from molecular reactions to large neural networks. This book offers an introduction to current methods in computational modeling in neuroscience. The book describes realistic modeling methods at levels of complexity ranging from molecular interactions to large neural networks. A “how to” book rather than an analytical account, it focuses on the presentation of methodological approaches, including the selection of the appropriate method and its potential pitfalls. It is intended for experimental neuroscientists and graduate students who have little formal training in mathematical methods, but it will also be useful for scientists with theoretical backgrounds who want to start using data-driven modeling methods. The mathematics needed are kept to an introductory level; the first chapter explains the mathematical methods the reader needs to master to understand the rest of the book. The chapters are written by scientists who have successfully integrated data-driven modeling with experimental work, so all of the material is accessible to experimentalists. The chapters offer comprehensive coverage with little overlap and extensive cross-references, moving from basic building blocks to more complex applications. Contributors Pablo Achard, Haroon Anwar, Upinder S. Bhalla, Michiel Berends, Nicolas Brunel, Ronald L. Calabrese, Brenda Claiborne, Hugo Cornelis, Erik De Schutter, Alain Destexhe, Bard Ermentrout, Kristen Harris, Sean Hill, John R. Huguenard, William R. Holmes, Gwen Jacobs, Gwendal LeMasson, Henry Markram, Reinoud Maex, Astrid A. Prinz, Imad Riachi, John Rinzel, Arnd Roth, Felix Schürmann, Werner Van Geit, Mark C. W. van Rossum, Stefan Wils
The book "Cognitive and Computational Neuroscience - Principles, Algorithms and Applications" will answer the following question and statements: System-level neural modeling: what and why? We know a lot about the brain! Need to integrate data: molecular/cellular/system levels. Complexity: need to abstract away higher-order principles. Models are tools to develop explicit theories, constrained by multiple levels (neural and behavioral). Key: models (should) make novel testable predictions on both neural and behavioral levels. Models are useful tools for guiding experiments. The hope is that the information provided in this book will trigger new researches that will help to connect basic neuroscience to clinical medicine.
An accessible introduction to the principles of computational and mathematical modeling in psychology and cognitive science This practical and readable work provides students and researchers, who are new to cognitive modeling, with the background and core knowledge they need to interpret published reports, and develop and apply models of their own. The book is structured to help readers understand the logic of individual component techniques and their relationships to each other.
A textbook for students with limited background in mathematics and computer coding, emphasizing computer tutorials that guide readers in producing models of neural behavior. This introductory text teaches students to understand, simulate, and analyze the complex behaviors of individual neurons and brain circuits. It is built around computer tutorials that guide students in producing models of neural behavior, with the associated Matlab code freely available online. From these models students learn how individual neurons function and how, when connected, neurons cooperate in a circuit. The book demonstrates through simulated models how oscillations, multistability, post-stimulus rebounds, and chaos can arise within either single neurons or circuits, and it explores their roles in the brain. The book first presents essential background in neuroscience, physics, mathematics, and Matlab, with explanations illustrated by many example problems. Subsequent chapters cover the neuron and spike production; single spike trains and the underlying cognitive processes; conductance-based models; the simulation of synaptic connections; firing-rate models of large-scale circuit operation; dynamical systems and their components; synaptic plasticity; and techniques for analysis of neuron population datasets, including principal components analysis, hidden Markov modeling, and Bayesian decoding. Accessible to undergraduates in life sciences with limited background in mathematics and computer coding, the book can be used in a “flipped” or “inverted” teaching approach, with class time devoted to hands-on work on the computer tutorials. It can also be a resource for graduate students in the life sciences who wish to gain computing skills and a deeper knowledge of neural function and neural circuits.
This text, based on a course taught by Randall O'Reilly and Yuko Munakata over the past several years, provides an in-depth introduction to the main ideas in the computational cognitive neuroscience. The goal of computational cognitive neuroscience is to understand how the brain embodies the mind by using biologically based computational models comprising networks of neuronlike units. This text, based on a course taught by Randall O'Reilly and Yuko Munakata over the past several years, provides an in-depth introduction to the main ideas in the field. The neural units in the simulations use equations based directly on the ion channels that govern the behavior of real neurons, and the neural networks incorporate anatomical and physiological properties of the neocortex. Thus the text provides the student with knowledge of the basic biology of the brain as well as the computational skills needed to simulate large-scale cognitive phenomena. The text consists of two parts. The first part covers basic neural computation mechanisms: individual neurons, neural networks, and learning mechanisms. The second part covers large-scale brain area organization and cognitive phenomena: perception and attention, memory, language, and higher-level cognition. The second part is relatively self-contained and can be used separately for mechanistically oriented cognitive neuroscience courses. Integrated throughout the text are more than forty different simulation models, many of them full-scale research-grade models, with friendly interfaces and accompanying exercises. The simulation software (PDP++, available for all major platforms) and simulations can be downloaded free of charge from the Web. Exercise solutions are available, and the text includes full information on the software.
Neural network research often builds on the fiction that neurons are simple linear threshold units, completely neglecting the highly dynamic and complex nature of synapses, dendrites, and voltage-dependent ionic currents. Biophysics of Computation: Information Processing in Single Neurons challenges this notion, using richly detailed experimental and theoretical findings from cellular biophysics to explain the repertoire of computational functions available to single neurons. The author shows how individual nerve cells can multiply, integrate, or delay synaptic inputs and how information can be encoded in the voltage across the membrane, in the intracellular calcium concentration, or in the timing of individual spikes.Key topics covered include the linear cable equation; cable theory as applied to passive dendritic trees and dendritic spines; chemical and electrical synapses and how to treat them from a computational point of view; nonlinear interactions of synaptic input in passive and active dendritic trees; the Hodgkin-Huxley model of action potential generation and propagation; phase space analysis; linking stochastic ionic channels to membrane-dependent currents; calcium and potassium currents and their role in information processing; the role of diffusion, buffering and binding of calcium, and other messenger systems in information processing and storage; short- and long-term models of synaptic plasticity; simplified models of single cells; stochastic aspects of neuronal firing; the nature of the neuronal code; and unconventional models of sub-cellular computation.Biophysics of Computation: Information Processing in Single Neurons serves as an ideal text for advanced undergraduate and graduate courses in cellular biophysics, computational neuroscience, and neural networks, and will appeal to students and professionals in neuroscience, electrical and computer engineering, and physics.
"The Computational Brain addresses a broad audience: neuroscientists, computer scientists, cognitive scientists, and philosophers. It is written for both the expert and novice. A basic overview of neuroscience and computational theory is provided, followed by a study of some of the most recent and sophisticated modeling work in the context of relevant neurobiological research. Technical terms are clearly explained in the text, and definitions are provided in an extensive glossary. The appendix contains a précis of neurobiological techniques."--Jacket.