FDD3403 Advanced Topics in Brain Science 7.5 credits

Teaching/learning activities

The course will contain three main activities. 

Seminars: Each student will read a set of classical and recent research papers on a selected topic and make 30 min presentations. There will be a total of 10 seminars covering 10 different topics. The seminar topic for each student will be chosen such that it does not overlap with the doctoral research topic. When there are fewer than 10 students, faculty members will give lectures on selected topics.

Written report: Each student will prepare 3-5 page review of the research topic assigned to them.

Peer review: Each student will also do peer-review of at least two written reports.

Neural hardware; Neural coding; Receptive fields; Excitation-inhibition balance; Neural assemblies; Synaptic plasticity; Learning and memory; Methods to read and manipulate brain activity; Brain theory

On successful completion of the course the student should be able to:

• describe and discuss major theoretical and experimental advances in brain sciences
• describe prominent theories of information processing in the biological brain
• describe links between different brain theories and their own research work
• critically evaluate the novelty and advances made by recent literature
• identify extensions of existing research work
• define new research problems and methods

Student should have taken a course equivalent to DD2401 Neuroscience. Background in dynamical systems, stochastic processes, information theory is desirable but not essential.

Student should have taken a course equivalent to the second cycle course DD2401 Neuroscience. Background in dynamical systems, stochastic processes, information theory is desirable but not essential.

None

Classic and recent papers chosen from top scientific journals such as Nature, Science, Neuron, Nature Neuroscience, J. Neuroscience, PLoS Comp. Biology, Neural Computation.

If the course is discontinued, students may request to be examined during the following two academic years.

• EXA1 - Examination, 7.5 credits, grading scale: P, F

Based on recommendation from KTH’s coordinator for disabilities, the examiner will decide how to adapt an examination for students with documented disability.

The examiner may apply another examination format when re-examining individual students.

Students will be evaluated based on oral presentation, a written report and review of at least one written report of another student.

To pass the course the students must fulfill the following criteria:

• participate in at least 80% course meetings
• write a short review on specific research topic which is not directly overlapping with student’s doctoral research
• present the review of a specific research topic
• peer-review at least one review report written by another student

Arvind Kumar

• All members of a group are responsible for the group's work.
• In any assessment, every student shall honestly disclose any help received and sources used.
• In an oral assessment, every student shall be able to present and answer questions about the entire assignment and solution.