Coursera – Synapses, Neurons and Brains 2025-3

Apr 18, 2025 - 19:32

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Synapses, Neurons and Brains, These are very unique times for brain research. The aperitif for the course will thus highlight the present “brain-excitements” worldwide. You will then become intimately acquainted with the operational principles of neuronal “life-ware” (synapses, neurons and the networks that they form) and consequently, on how neurons behave as computational microchips and how they plastically and constantly change – a process that underlies learning and memory. Recent heroic attempts to realistically simulate large cortical networks in the computer will be highlighted (e.g., “the Blue Brain Project”) and processes related to perception, cognition and emotions in the brain will be discussed. For dessert we will deliberate on the future of brain research, including the questions of “brain and art”, consciousness and free will.

What you’ll learn

We will show that neurons are electrical devices and learn what enables neurons to become “electrifying.”
You will become intimately acquainted with the beauty and variety of neurons.
We will focus on the membrane mechanisms underlying the generation of the spike, particularly the Hodgkin & Huxley model for the spike.
We start with a short discussion about the notion of learning in the brain and then highlight various mechanisms that support learning and memory.