TEACHINGS
Summer Semester
Basic Neural Simulation (Seminar for BSc)
The goal of this seminar is 1) to understand basic electrophysiological properties of neurons and
2) to learn how to implement this knowledge into a computational model of a neuron. First,
students will learn basic electrophysiological properties such as the maintenance of the resting
membrane potential and the generation of an action potential through lectures. Students will then
build their own neuron model using Matlab program language. Simulation
using computers will not only help solidify the students’ understanding of electrophysiological
properties but also will allow them to use this knowledge in the future research. Acquiring this
technique will enable students for example to estimate the consequence of a malfunction of
certain ionic channel in a disease or to estimate the specific character of specific neuron types of
their interest. Advanced students will have the opportunity to expand this single neuron model
to a neural network model to simulate a role of a brain region of their interest. This course will
also provide necessary skills regarding computational simulation but do not require previous
experience in modeling or programming. Basic knowledge about electric circuit would be of
advantage.
Room, Day, Time: Tuesday, 10-12h, GAFO 04/615 Medienraum
Spatial navigation and memory (Seminar for MSc)
This seminar focuses on the function of the medial temporal lobe (MTL) in spatial navigation.
Single unit recordings from areas in the MTL such as the hippocampus and the entorhinal cortex
during spatial tasks have been providing vast amount of insight to the function of the MTL.
‘Place cells’ in the hippocampus fire dependent on the location of an animal in an environment,
‘head direction cells’ in the presubiculum fire dependent on the direction of animal’s head, and
‘grid cells’ in the entorhinal cortex fire at many locations to form a hexagonal grid that covers
each 2D environment. The fact that neurons from different subregions of the MTL provide
different types of navigational representation suggests a functional segregation within the MTL.
‘Theta phase precession’ of the place cells and the grid cells provides evidences for phase coding
and an optimized firing pattern for synaptic plasticity. The ‘replay’ of activity of place cells
during sleep provides evidences for the possible role of the MTL in memory consolidation.
Finally, we will study the underlying mechanism for place representation with an overview of
computational models. This course will take the form of a journal club but some background
knowledge will be provided during lecture.
Room, Day, Time: Thursday 14-16, GA 04/187 MRG seminar room
Winter Semester
Intracellular electrophysiological recording technique (Seminar for BSc)
Brain functions are based on the activity of single neurons. Intracellular
electrophysiological recording techniques enable us to observe the activity and
to study the properties of single neurons. In this seminar, students will learn
in-vitro patch-clamp recording, which is a popular and powerful intracellular recording
technique. This seminar consists of both theoretical background studies and practical
hands-on lab experiences. In more details, students will learn 1) the theory of intracellular
recording, 2) brain slice preparation using animal brains, 3) patch-clamp recording,
4) visualization of recorded neurons, and 5) data analysis. Intracellular electrophysiological
recording technique is not restricted to the study of single-cell properties. When
combined with extra-cellular stimulation electrode, one can easily study properties
of synaptic connections such as long-term synaptic potentiation and depression.
Therefore, this method is also often used to study properties of neural networks which
are believed to be crucial for functions of the brain.
Room, Day, Time: Thursday, 10-12h, GA 04/187 MRG seminar room
Learning and Memory (Seminar for MSc)
This seminar is taught by four professors from MRG "Structure of Memory" with expertise in different fields. This seminar focuses on learning and memory functions through multidisciplinary approaches: electrophysiological, molecular, computational, and neurosemantic perspectives. In the seminar, students will study and present basis of learning and memory through the book “Learning and Memory” written by Howard Eichenbaum, and additional lectures will be given by teachers on the topics of perceptual binding, memory encoding, consolidation and recall, as well as conceptual representation.
Room, Day, Time: Tuesday, 16-18h, GA 04/187 MRG seminar room