Computational Neuroscience
On my copious free time, I like to learn a little bit about computational neuroscience. At one point I even considered doing my PhD in this field, before realising my lack of knowledge of biology, chemistry, physics and mathematics was a bit of an impediment. Nonetheless, I still like learning and writing about the subject.
Other people's material
My main a hero in this field is Jeff Hawkins (he of Palm fame), and I highly recommend both of his books, which target laypeople like me and are at the "popular science" level.
If you are interested in more "serious" academic material (but still introductory), I also recommend:
- Principles of Computational Modelling in Neuroscience: "bible" of the subject for newcomers.
- Neuronal Dynamics - Computational Neuroscience: series of lectures by Gerstner.
My material
All of the material I have written is at the interested layperson level.
Neurons for Computer Geeks
This is a series of blog posts that attempts to introduce all concepts necessary to understand one of the the simplest models of a neuron: LIF. The series never quite finished but it may still prove useful to anyone trying to get a basic overview of what neurons are, and how one would go about modeling them.
| Part | Title | Date | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| I | A Neuron From Up On High | Monday, August 31, 2015 | General overview of the neuron cell. |
| II | The Shocking Complexity of Electricity | Monday, August 31, 2015 | Overview of key electrical terms. |
| III | Coding Interlude | Friday, September 04, 2015 | We start a project to contain the models. |
| IV | More Electricity | Saturday, September 05, 2015 | We resume our journey into core electrical concepts. |
| V | Yet More Theory | Monday, September 07, 2015 | We now discuss the mathematical modeling of neurons. |
| VI | LIF At Long Last! | Wednesday, September 16, 2015 | All the concepts are brought together in the LIF models. |