This is a proposal to establish an undergraduate training program in computational neuroscience at the University of Chicago that includes two components: (1) a short term research education component and (2) a undergraduate research training component. The short term research education component will provide an initial research experience for up to 18 students per year, 9 from the University of Chicago and 9 from other institutions in the United States. This experience will include participation in an intensive research project in a faculty laboratory, attendance at faculty seminars designed to expose students to a wide range of topics in neuroscience, including computational approaches, attendance at a bi-weekly seminar by a visiting computational neuroscientist, and social experiences. The undergraduate research training component will provide a two-year research experience coupled with a specially designed curriculum in applied mathematics and computational neuroscience. For students majoring in biology or psychology, this will require enrollment in a year-long, three course sequence in post-calculus applied mathematics specially designed for students interested in biological problems. These courses include computer laboratories that emphasize simulation and data visualization methods that are important to biological problems. Students will also be required to take two three-course sequences in computational neuroscience. One sequence includes courses in neuronal biophysics, vision, and cognitive neuroscience. Each of these courses integrates experimental and computational approaches. The second sequence deals with more advanced quantitative methods important to neuroscience. The first course involves analysis of linear systems, the second involves analysis of non-linear systems and the third deals with control theory as applied to physiological problems. Students will also attend seminars and scientific meetings and receive training in the responsible conduct of science. Biomedical science is increasingly dependent on quantitative approaches to biological and medical problems. Training of the sort proposed here is crucial to developing a workforce that can work on these problems.
| Phan, K Luan; Angstadt, Mike; Golden, Jamie et al. (2008) Cannabinoid modulation of amygdala reactivity to social signals of threat in humans. J Neurosci 28:2313-9 |
