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Courses

CNS/Bi/SS/Psy/NB 176 – Cognition
The cornerstone of current progress in understanding the mind, the brain, and the relationship between the two is the study of human and animal cognition. This course will provide an in-depth survey and analysis of behavioral observations, theoretical accounts, computational models, patient data, electrophysiological studies, and brain-imaging results on mental capacities such as attention, memory, emotion, object representation, language, and cognitive development.
Offered: Spring, 2019

 

CNS/Bi 286b – Cross-Modal Integration: Perception and Cognition of Speech and Non-Speech
Ventriloquism is a well-known example of how information from one sensory modality (vision) can influence what we perceive in another modality (hearing). In the McGurk effect, the video of a person saying one syllable is combined with the audio for another syllable. What syllable you hear depends profoundly on whether your eyes are open or closed at the time. Research has uncovered many such interactions between our senses. The course will cover a broad array of such effects and their underlying mechanisms, but will center on how vision and hearing interact to process speech. Our basic question will be whether speech processing is somehow special, or if common mechanisms unite both speech and non-speech sounds. Do all cross-modal integration effects follow the same basic principles? Grades will be based on an in-class presentation of selected research papers, a few short quizzes, and a final essay exam.
Offered: Winter

 

CNS/Bi/EE 186 – Vision: From Computational Theory to Neuronal Mechanisms
Lecture, laboratory, and discussion course aimed at understanding visual information processing, in both machines and the mammalian visual system. The course will emphasize an interdisciplinary approach aimed at understanding vision at several levels: computational theory, algorithms, psychophysics, and hardware (i.e., neuroanatomy and neurophysiology of the mammalian visual system). The course will focus on early vision processes, in particular motion analysis, binocular stereo, brightness, color and texture analysis, and boundary detection. Students will be required to hand in approximately three homeworks as well as complete one project (mathematical analysis, computer modeling, or psychophysics). Instructors: Perona, Shimojo, Koch. Given in alternate years
Offered: Winter