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NeuroMatch Academy (NMA) syllabus

July 13-31, 2020

Objectives: Introduce traditional and emerging computational neuroscience tools, their complementarity, and what they can tell us about the brain. A main focus is on modeling choices, model creation, model evaluation and understanding how they relate to biological questions.

Tutorial microstructure: ~5min talk, ~15min hands-on (repeated)

Day structure: Opening keynote, 3h15min lecture/live Q&A/tutorial modules, 40min group discussion, 55min interpretation lecture (Outro) + live Q&As (what did we learn today, what does it mean, underlying philosophy). There will also be many networking activities (professional development sessions, yoga, social hangouts etc)! Details below.

Note for visitors from China: This repository contains many links to YouTube and Google Colab. We have a version of the repository with those same videos posted on bilibili, and the Google Colab links replaced with links to Aliyun. Please visit the China Accessible Neuromatch Course-Content

Prerequisites: See here

Course materials

Group projects are offered for the interactive track only and will be running during all 3 weeks of NMA!

Course outline


Week 0

Python for NMA workshop

Description Two-day workshop for absolute Python beginners. Learn essential Python skills for course tutorials and practice by coding a neuronal simulation.


Week 1

Mon, July 13: Model Types

Description Introduce different example model types (Marr 1-3, what/how/why) and the kinds of questions they can answer. Realize how different models map onto different datasets.

Time (Hour) Lecture Details
-0:30-0:00* Intro / keynote & tutorial setup Model classifications
0:00-0:15 Pod Discussion I Lecture discussion with pod TA
0:20-1:35 Tutorials + nano-lectures I "What"/"How" models
1:35-1:55 Pod Discussion II Discussion with pod TA
1:55-2:55 Big break + Physical Activity BREAK incl. 20min yoga session
2:55-4:10 Tutorials + nano-lectures II "Why" model & discussion
4:10-4:30 Pod Discussion III Discussion with pod TA
4:35-5:05** Outro Recap session, The role of models in discovery
5:05-6:05 Q&A Q&A with lecturers/Mentors
6:00-7:00 Social Activity Hangout in Mozilla Hubs

* the Intro / keynote will be watched asynchronously, which means that you can watch this lecture before the start of the day ** please watch the Outro on your own after having completed the tutorials and before the Q&A session


Tue, July 14: Modeling Practice

Description Introduction to the process of building models.

Time (Hour) Lecture Details
-0:30-0:00* Intro / keynote & tutorial setup How to approach modeling
0:00-0:15 Pod Discussion I Lecture discussion with pod TA
0:20-1:35 Tutorials + nano-lectures I Framing the question
1:35-1:55 Pod Discussion II Discussion with pod TA
1:55-2:55 Big break BREAK
2:55-4:10 Tutorials + nano-lectures II Model implementation and testing
4:10-4:30 Pod Discussion III Discussion with pod TA
4:35-5:05** Outro Recap session, the modeling process
5:05-6:05 Q&A Q&A with lecturers/Mentors
6:00-7:00 Social Activity Hangout in Mozilla Hubs

* the Intro / keynote will be watched asynchronously, which means that you can watch this lecture before the start of the day ** please watch the Outro on your own after having completed the tutorials and before the Q&A session


Wed, July 15: Model Fitting

Description Fit models to data, quantify uncertainty, compare models

Time (Hour) Lecture Details
-0:30-0:00* Intro / keynote & tutorial setup Why and how to fit models
0:00-0:15 Pod Discussion I Lecture discussion with pod TA
0:20-1:35 Tutorials + nano-lectures I Fit a model 1 (linear regression), Get error bars
1:35-1:55 Pod Discussion II Discussion with pod TA
1:55-2:55 Big break + Physical Activity BREAK incl. 20min yoga session
2:55-4:10 Tutorials + nano-lectures II Compare models, cross-validation, hyperparameters, Fit a model 2 (nonlinear models)
4:10-4:30 Pod Discussion III Discussion with pod TA
4:35-5:05** Outro Recap session, Critical evaluation of model fitting
5:05-6:05 Q&A Q&A with lecturers/Mentors
6:00-7:00 Social Activity Hangout in Mozilla Hubs

* the Intro / keynote will be watched asynchronously, which means that you can watch this lecture before the start of the day ** please watch the Outro on your own after having completed the tutorials and before the Q&A session


Thu, July 16: Machine Learning: GLM

Description Introduction to machine learning. The commonly used approaches, how to avoid false positives, how to do it well

Time (Hour) Lecture Details
-0:30-0:00* Intro / keynote & tutorial setup We want to predict (scikit learn)
0:00-0:15 Pod Discussion I Lecture discussion with pod TA
0:20-1:35 Tutorials + nano-lectures I Introduction to GLMs and predicting neural responses
1:35-1:55 Pod Discussion II Discussion with pod TA
1:55-2:55 Big break + Physical Activity BREAK incl. 20min yoga session
2:55-4:10 Tutorials + nano-lectures II Logistic regression, regularization, and decoding neural activity
4:10-4:30 Pod Discussion III Discussion with pod TA
4:35-5:05** Outro Recap session, Promises and pitfalls of ML for Neuroscience
5:05-6:05 Q&A Q&A with lecturers/Mentors
6:00-7:00 Social Activity Hangout in Mozilla Hubs

* the Intro / keynote will be watched asynchronously, which means that you can watch this lecture before the start of the day ** please watch the Outro on your own after having completed the tutorials and before the Q&A session


Fri, July 17: Dimensionality Reduction

Description Concept of dimensionality reduction, ways of doing it, what it means

Time (Hour) Lecture Details
-0:30-0:00* Intro / keynote & tutorial setup Manifolds to understand
0:00-0:15 Pod Discussion I Lecture discussion with pod TA
0:20-1:35 Tutorials + nano-lectures I PCA 1 (orthonormal basis), PCA 2 (eigenvalues)
1:35-1:55 Pod Discussion II Discussion with pod TA
1:55-2:55 Big break BREAK
2:55-4:10 Tutorials + nano-lectures II MNIST with PCA, MNIST with t-SNE
4:10-4:30 Pod Discussion III Discussion with pod TA
4:35-5:05** Outro Recap session, The link between high-dimensional brain signals and low-dimensional behavior
5:05-6:05 Q&A Q&A with lecturers/Mentors
6:00-7:00 Social Activity Hangout in Mozilla Hubs

* the Intro / keynote will be watched asynchronously, which means that you can watch this lecture before the start of the day ** please watch the Outro on your own after having completed the tutorials and before the Q&A session


Description Professional development sessions and social activities will be offered on the weekend. More information, including exact times are available on the Neurostars Calendar



Week 2

Mon, July 20: Bayesian Statistics

Description Bayesian statistics, modeling of behavior, modeling of neural data, quantifying information

Time (Hour) Lecture Details
-0:30-0:00* Intro / keynote & tutorial setup Uncertainty
0:00-0:15 Pod Discussion I Lecture discussion with pod TA
0:20-1:35 Tutorials + nano-lectures I Bayes rule: cue combination and marginalization
1:35-1:55 Pod Discussion II Discussion with pod TA
1:55-2:55 Big break + Physical Activity BREAK incl. 20min yoga session
2:55-4:10 Tutorials + nano-lectures II Bayesian Decision Theory & Causal inference
4:10-4:30 Pod Discussion III Discussion with pod TA
4:35-5:05** Outro Recap session, Advanced Bayesian methods
5:05-6:05 Q&A Q&A with lecturers/Mentors
6:00-7:00 Social Activity Hangout in Mozilla Hubs

* the Intro / keynote will be watched asynchronously, which means that you can watch this lecture before the start of the day ** please watch the Outro on your own after having completed the tutorials and before the Q&A session


Tue, July 21: Linear Systems

Description How to make estimates over time, how the brain does it

Time (Hour) Lecture Details
-0:30-0:00* Intro / keynote & tutorial setup World has time
0:00-0:15 Pod Discussion I Lecture discussion with pod TA
0:20-1:35 Tutorials + nano-lectures I Linear systems theory I (ND deterministic) and Markov process
1:35-1:55 Pod Discussion II Discussion with pod TA
1:55-2:55 Big break BREAK
2:55-4:10 Tutorials + nano-lectures II Linear systems theory II (1D stochastic = OU process; ND stocastic = AR(1)) and State space model
4:10-4:30 Pod Discussion III Discussion with pod TA
4:35-5:05** Outro Recap session, Linear systems rule the world
5:05-6:05 Q&A Q&A with lecturers/Mentors
6:00-7:00 Social Activity Hangout in Mozilla Hubs

* the Intro / keynote will be watched asynchronously, which means that you can watch this lecture before the start of the day ** please watch the Outro on your own after having completed the tutorials and before the Q&A session


Wed, July 22: Decision Making

Description How we can make decisions when information comes in over time

Time (Hour) Lecture Details
-0:30-0:00* Intro / keynote & tutorial setup We need to decide stuff
0:00-0:15 Pod Discussion I Lecture discussion with pod TA
0:20-1:35 Tutorials + nano-lectures I Information theory, Sequential Probability Ratio Test (SPRT)
1:35-1:55 Pod Discussion II Discussion with pod TA
1:55-2:55 Big break + Physical Activity BREAK incl. 20min yoga session
2:55-4:10 Tutorials + nano-lectures II Hidden Markov Model inference (DDM), Kalman filter
4:10-4:30 Pod Discussion III Discussion with pod TA
4:35-5:05** Outro Recap session, Decisions, decisions, decisions ...
5:05-6:05 Q&A Q&A with lecturers/Mentors
6:00-7:00 Social Activity Hangout in Mozilla Hubs

* the Intro / keynote will be watched asynchronously, which means that you can watch this lecture before the start of the day ** please watch the Outro on your own after having completed the tutorials and before the Q&A session


Thu, July 23: Optimal Control

Description We need to move gain info and reach goals

Time (Hour) Lecture Details
-0:30-0:00* Intro / keynote & tutorial setup We want to control our actions...
0:00-0:15 Pod Discussion I Lecture discussion with pod TA
0:20-1:35 Tutorials + nano-lectures I Expected utility / Cost, Markov decision process (MDP)
1:35-1:55 Pod Discussion II Discussion with pod TA
1:55-2:55 Big break + Physical Activity BREAK incl. 20min yoga session
2:55-4:10 Tutorials + nano-lectures II LQG control (MDP for linear systems), Motor control (signal-dependent noise, time cost, ...)
4:10-4:30 Pod Discussion III Discussion with pod TA
4:35-5:05** Outro Recap session, Advanced motor control
5:05-6:05 Q&A Q&A with lecturers/Mentors
6:00-7:00 Social Activity Hangout in Mozilla Hubs

* the Intro / keynote will be watched asynchronously, which means that you can watch this lecture before the start of the day ** please watch the Outro on your own after having completed the tutorials and before the Q&A session


Fri, July 24: Reinforcement Learning

Description The setting of reinforcement learning and how it approximates the real world, behavior, and potential brain implementations

Time (Hour) Lecture Details
-0:30-0:00* Intro / keynote & tutorial setup Problem formulations: actor-critic
0:00-0:15 Pod Discussion I Lecture discussion with pod TA
0:20-1:35 Tutorials + nano-lectures I Critic: reward prediction error, Exploration (POMDP) vs exploitation
1:35-1:55 Pod Discussion II Discussion with pod TA
1:55-2:55 Big break BREAK
2:55-4:10 Tutorials + nano-lectures II Model-based vs model-free RL, Multi-arm bandits: foraging
4:10-4:30 Pod Discussion III Discussion with pod TA
4:35-5:05** Outro Recap session, RL and the brain
5:05-6:05 Q&A Q&A with lecturers/Mentors
6:00-7:00 Social Activity Hangout in Mozilla Hubs

* the Intro / keynote will be watched asynchronously, which means that you can watch this lecture before the start of the day ** please watch the Outro on your own after having completed the tutorials and before the Q&A session


Description Professional development sessions and social activities will be offered on the weekend. More information, including exact times are available on the Neurostars Calendar



Week 3

Mon, July 27: Real Neurons

Description The things neurons are made of, channels, morphologies, neuromodulators, and plasticity

Time (Hour) Lecture Details
-0:30-0:00* Intro / keynote & tutorial setup Real neurons ftw
0:00-0:15 Pod Discussion I Lecture discussion with pod TA
0:20-1:35 Tutorials + nano-lectures I Reduced neuron models and transfer of synchrony
1:35-1:55 Pod Discussion II Discussion with pod TA
1:55-2:55 Big break + Physical Activity BREAK incl. 20min yoga session
2:55-4:10 Tutorials + nano-lectures II Short-term plasticity of synapses and Hebbian plasticity & STDP
4:10-4:30 Pod Discussion III Discussion with pod TA
4:35-5:05** Outro Recap session, A variety of neuron models
5:05-6:05 Q&A Q&A with lecturers/Mentors
6:05-7:05 Social hour Social hour

* the Intro / keynote will be watched asynchronously, which means that you can watch this lecture before the start of the day ** please watch the Outro on your own after having completed the tutorials and before the Q&A session


Tue, July 28: Dynamic Networks

Description How single neurons create population dynamics

Time (Hour) Lecture Details
-0:30-0:00* Intro / keynote & tutorial setup Mechanistic models of different types of brain actvivity
0:00-0:15 Pod Discussion I Lecture discussion with pod TA
0:20-1:35 Tutorials + nano-lectures I 2D dynamical systems, Wilson-Cowen model (coarse-grained), oscillations & synchrony
1:35-1:55 Pod Discussion II Discussion with pod TA
1:55-2:55 Big break BREAK
2:55-4:10 Tutorials + nano-lectures II Attractors & local linearization around fixed points, Balanced Amplification & Inhibition-stabilized network
4:10-4:30 Pod Discussion III Discussion with pod TA
4:35-5:05** Outro Recap session, A theory of the whole brain
5:05-6:05 Q&A Q&A with lecturers/Mentors
6:05-7:05 Social hour Social hour

* the Intro / keynote will be watched asynchronously, which means that you can watch this lecture before the start of the day ** please watch the Outro on your own after having completed the tutorials and before the Q&A session


Wed, July 29: Network Causality

Description Ways of discovering causal relations, ways of estimating networks, what we can do with networks

Time (Hour) Lecture Details
-0:30-0:00* Intro / keynote & tutorial setup Causality - different views
0:00-0:15 Pod Discussion I Lecture discussion with pod TA
0:20-1:35 Tutorials + nano-lectures I Pittfalls of Granger and Centrality
1:35-1:55 Pod Discussion II Discussion with pod TA
1:55-2:55 Big break + Physical Activity BREAK incl. 20min yoga session
2:55-4:10 Tutorials + nano-lectures II Instrumental Variables and interventions
4:10-4:30 Pod Discussion III Discussion with pod TA
4:35-5:05** Outro Recap session, Ladders of causality
5:05-6:05 Q&A Q&A with lecturers/Mentors
6:00-7:00 Social Activity Hangout in Mozilla Hubs

* the Intro / keynote will be watched asynchronously, which means that you can watch this lecture before the start of the day ** please watch the Outro on your own after having completed the tutorials and before the Q&A session


Thu, July 30: Deep Learning 1

Description The concept of ANNs, how to train them,what they are made out of, convnets, and how to fit them to brains

Time (Hour) Lecture Details
-0:30-0:00* Intro / keynote & tutorial setup DL = crucial tool
0:00-0:15 Pod Discussion I Lecture discussion with pod TA
0:20-1:35 Tutorials + nano-lectures I Pytorch intro & model components, Training it & inductive bias
1:35-1:55 Pod Discussion II Discussion with pod TA
1:55-2:55 Big break + Physical Activity BREAK incl. 20min yoga session
2:55-4:10 Tutorials + nano-lectures II Convolutional Neural Network, Fit to brain (RSA - represenatational similarity analysis)
4:10-4:30 Pod Discussion III Discussion with pod TA
4:35-5:05** Outro Recap session, Digging deep
5:05-6:05 Q&A Q&A with lecturers/Mentors
6:00-7:00 Social Activity Hangout in Mozilla Hubs

* the Intro / keynote will be watched asynchronously, which means that you can watch this lecture before the start of the day ** please watch the Outro on your own after having completed the tutorials and before the Q&A session


Fri, July 31: Deep Learning 2

Description Deep learning in more advanced settings. Autoencoders for structure discovery, RNNs, and fitting them to brains

Time (Hour) Lecture Details
-0:30-0:00* Intro / keynote & tutorial setup DL for structure
0:00-0:15 Pod Discussion I Lecture discussion with pod TA
0:20-1:35 Tutorials + nano-lectures I Variational autoencorders and uses in Neuroscience
1:35-1:55 Pod Discussion II Discussion with pod TA
1:55-2:55 Big break BREAK
2:55-4:10 Tutorials + nano-lectures II NMA wrap-up
4:10-4:30 Pod Discussion III Discussion with pod TA
4:35-5:05** Outro Recap session, Digging deeper
5:05-6:05 Q&A Q&A with lecturers/Mentors
6:00-7:00 Social Activity Hangout in Mozilla Hubs

* the Intro / keynote will be watched asynchronously, which means that you can watch this lecture before the start of the day ** please watch the Outro on your own after having completed the tutorials and before the Q&A session


Networking (throughout) - interactive track only

  • Meet a prof about your group's project
  • Meet a prof about your career
  • Meet a prof about your own project
  • Meet other participants interested in similar topics
  • Meet a group of likeminded people
  • Meet people that are local to you (same city, country)

Professional Development Sessions

These are hour-long Crowdcast events with a panel of speakers that will discuss a topic and answer audience questions. For exact times in the relevant time-zones, see the Neurostars Calendar. They will be live streamed and recorded for later watching. Some sessions are duplicated to ensure coverage for students in different time-zones.

Weekend 1: July 18 & 19

Session Speakers Description
2.1: Data management Dimitri Yatsenko (DataJoint), Edgar Walker (DataJoint), Ben Dichter (NWB) Software tools for efficient management, analysis, and sharing of experimental data.
2.2: Data management Russ Poldrack (Stanford) Efficient data management and sharing strategies focusing on fMRI data.
3.1 Open Science Nici Pfeiffer (COS), Mark Musen (Stanford) Discussion of tools to improve accessibility and transparency of scientific data and analysis.
4.1 Visualization Colin Prahl (Artist), Amy Robinson Stirling (Eyewire) Presentation on scientific visualization, ranging from scientific data visulaziation to visualization in scientific communication and science-inspired art.
5.1 Publishing Brett Mensh The art and logic of writing peer-reviewed journal papers.
6.1 Philosophy Lisa Mirachi (U Penn) What is the difference between “what a cognitive agent does” and “what processes happen inside an agent”? Lisa Miracchi, philosophy professor at UPenn, talks about how this distinction relates to selecting models.
6.2 Philosophy Lisa Mirachi (U Penn) What is the difference between “the content of representations” and “the content of perceptions and thoughts”? Lisa Miracchi, philosophy professor at UPenn, talks about Marr’s Computational Level and how these questions relate to what robots might internally represent

Weekend 2: July 25 & 26

Session Speakers Description
3.2 Open Science Nici Pfeiffer (COS), Mark Musen (Stanford) Discussion of tools to improve accessibility and transparency of scientific data and analysis.
7.1 Job fair Facebook Reality Labs Research careers at FRL, a division of Facebook focused on creating the future of virtual and augmented reality.
7.2 Job fair Facebook Reality Labs Research careers at FRL, a division of Facebook focused on creating the future of virtual and augmented reality.
8.1 Careers in industry Becky Clarkson (Apple), Kyle Frankovich (Insight Data Science), Kachi Odoememe (APL) Research careers in industry.
8.2 Careers in industry Feryal MP Behbahani (DeepMind), Sophie Kenny (Vpixx), Graeme Moffat Research careers in industry.
9.1 Careers in academia Sripati Panditaradhyula Arun (IISc), Minhae Kwon (Soongsil University), Taro Toyoizumi (RIKEN) Research careers in academia.

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