Spring 2025 Featured Courses
*Note: The course information below has been provided to us by faculty members and we will update this page on a regular basis. If you are a student who would like additional courses highlighted for your colleagues please contact the GPN Administrative Coordinator Yinglin Li (yinglinl@bu.edu).
CAS PS 530 A1 – Neural Models of Memory Function
Contact Information: Dr. Michael Hasselmo (hasselmo@bu.edu)
Lecture/discussion: Thurs, 3:30 pm – 6:15 pm
Location: Contact Dr. Michael Hasselmo
Course description: Computational models of neurobiological mechanisms for memory function and spatial navigation, with a particular emphasis on cellular and circuit models of the hippocampus and related cortical structures. Also offered as CAS NE 530. 4 credits
Prereq: consent of instructor.
CAS PS 720 A1 –Neurobiology of Animal Cognition
Contact Information: Dr. Fatema Shafie Khorassani
Lecture: Tues & Thurs 3:30PM – 4:45PM
Location: Charles River campus
Description: This course explores the nature of cognition across the animal kingdom. Synthesizes concepts from cognitive science, machine learning and neuroethology to better understand human cognition through the lens of animal behavior. Selected topics include decision-making, collective behavior, reinforcement learning, and mental simulations. 4 credits
CAS CN 530 A1 – Neural and Computational Models of Vision
Contact Information: Dr. Arash Yazdanbakhsh (yazdan@bu.edu)
Lecture/discussion: Mon & Wed, 10:10 am – 11:55 am
Location: Contact Dr. Yazdanbakhsh
Course description: This course explores the psychological, biological, mathematical and computational foundations of visual perception. Lectures and readings combine with simulation and essay assignments to provide an intensive and self-contained examination of core issues in early and middle visual processing. Mathematically specified neural and computational models elucidate the structure and dynamics of the mammalian visual system. The course elucidates the psychophysics and physiology of mammalian vision, both as a means of better understanding our own human intelligence, and as a foundation for tomorrows machine vision architectures and algorithms. 4 credits
Prereq: (CASCN510) or consent of instructor.
SAR HS 549 – Mechanisms of disruption in brain disorders
Contact Information: Dr. Basilis Zikopoulos (zikopoul@bu.edu)
Lecture/discussion: Wed, 6:30 pm – 9:15 pm
Location: Contact Dr. Zikopoulos
Course description: The goal of this course is to familiarize graduate students and advanced undergraduates (at least one prior neuroscience or related class and permission of instructor required) with the organization and functions of brain networks that are preferentially disrupted in disorders, so we can then discuss mechanisms underlying their disruption in pathology. The focus will be on the central nervous system, including the cortex, thalamus, amygdala, hippocampus, and basal ganglia and disorders involving these brain regions, the pathways connecting them, their interactions, and their neural circuits. We will cover psychiatric disorders, including autism, schizophrenia, depression, sleep deficits, anxiety, and phobias, as well as traumatic and neurodegenerative disorders like traumatic encephalopathy, dementias, Alzheimer’s, and Parkinson’s. We will also examine different methods used to study disorders, including use of post-mortem brain tissue, animal models, functional and structural neuroimaging, neurophysiology, and computational modeling, therefore the approach will be multi-disciplinary. 4 credits
Prereq: Students should have some basic knowledge of nervous system structure and function and/or human physiology.
SAR HS 582 A1 – Neuroanatomy and Neurophysiology
Contact Information: Dr. Basilis Zikopoulos (zikopoul@bu.edu)
Lecture/discussion: Tues & Thurs, 2:00 pm – 3:15 pm
Location: Contact Dr. Zikopoulos
Course description: Lecture and laboratory related to the detailed study of the development, morphology, internal configuration, functions, and pathological deficits of the peripheral and central nervous system in humans. Spring semester only. 4 credits
SPH BS 704 A1 –Introduction to Biostatistics
Contact Information: Dr. Fatema Shafie Khorassani
Lecture: Monday, 2:00 pm – 4:20 pm
Location: Med campus
Description: This course provides an overview of biostatistical methods, and gives students the skills to perform, present, and interpret basic statistical analyses. Topics include the collection, classification, and presentation of descriptive data; the rationale of estimation and hypothesis testing; analysis of variance; analysis of contingency tables; correlation and regression analysis; multiple regression, logistic regression, and the statistical control of confounding; sample size and power considerations; survival analysis. Special attention is directed to the ability to recognize and interpret statistical procedures in articles from the current literature. Students will use the R statistical package to analyze public health related data. 3 credits