This coursera will focus mainly on the operational principles of neuronal “life-ware” (synapses, neurons and the networks that they form¹). How neurons behave as computational microchips and how they plastically and constantly change - a process that underlies learning and memory and more.

Electrifying Brains (Passive Electrical Signals)

This module will show that neurons are electrical devices and what enables neurons to become “electrifying”.

• The Cell as a RC Circuit and The Voltage Equation for the Passive Cell
• The Membrane Time Constant, Temporal Summation and the Resting Potential
• The Synaptic Potential (Part I: The Synaptic Conductance and The Synaptic Battery)
• The Synaptic Potential (Part II: The Voltage Equation for the Synapse and EPSP and IPSP)

Electrifying Brains (Active Electrical Spikes)

This module will deal with the active electrical aspects of neurons.

• The All or None Spike and the Voltage Clamp
• Membrane Currents Underlying the Spike
• Modeling the Membrane Currents
• Hodgkin & Huxley Spike Model

Neurons as Plastic/Dynamic Devices

This module will discuss “Neurons as plastic/changing devices”.

• The Brain Learning
• Mechanisms Sub-serving Learning and Memory
• Functional Plasticity and Structural Plasticity
• Neurogenesis and Learning

Cable Theory and Dendritic Computations

This module will show the cable properties of dendrites empower neurons with computational capabilities.

• Computation at the Level of Single Neuron
• Fundamentals of Dendritic Cable Theory
• Rall Cable Theory for Dendrites
• Dendritic Computation

Cortical Networks (Out of the Blue Project)

This module will show how single cells function, how they are connected via (plastic) synapses to each other and how they might perform specific computations.

• Mega Projects for the Brain
• The Cortical Column and A Cortical Column Networks
• Blue Brain Simulations
• The Human Brain Project

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