IBN 98-13435 CARNEVALE The aim of this project is to teach scientists how to use NEURON, a powerful tool for simulating the function of nerve cells and brain circuits. This award supports a satellite short-course presented annually at the Society for Neuroscience meeting. The course instructs neuroscience investigators and teachers how to use a widely-accepted simulation tool designed specifically for biologically realistic neural models. Since it runs on all leading computational platforms (UNIX/Linux, MSWindows 3.1, 95, 98, and NT, and MacOS), virtually every laptop and desktop microcomputer sold in the country is capable of performing research-quality simulations. The potential importance of NEURON to the neuroscience community derives from the fact that the nervous systems of all animals, including human beings, perform tasks such as perception, learning, and adaptive control, through computations that involve the complex interactions of electrical and chemical signals that are distributed in space and time. Scientists are increasingly finding simulation to be an indispensable tool for understanding the operation of systems with such complex interactions. The NEURON course will teach the use of such a tool for applications in neuroscience.
