Neural network research often builds on the fiction that neurons are simple linear threshold units, completely neglecting the highly dynamic and complex nature of synapses, dendrites, and voltage-dependent ionic currents. Biophysics of Computation: Information Processing in Single Neurons challenges this notion, using richly detailed experimental and theoretical findings from cellular biophysics to explain the repertoire of computational functions available to single neurons. The author shows how individual nerve cells can multiply, integrate, or delay synaptic inputs and how information can be encoded in the voltage across the membrane, in the intracellular calcium concentration, or in the timing of individual spikes.Key topics covered include the linear cable equation; cable theory as applied to passive dendritic trees and dendritic spines; chemical and electrical synapses and how to treat them from a computational point of view; nonlinear interactions of synaptic input in passive and active dendritic trees; the Hodgkin-Huxley model of action potential generation and propagation; phase space analysis; linking stochastic ionic channels to membrane-dependent currents; calcium and potassium currents and their role in information processing; the role of diffusion, buffering and binding of calcium, and other messenger systems in information processing and storage; short- and long-term models of synaptic plasticity; simplified models of single cells; stochastic aspects of neuronal firing; the nature of the neuronal code; and unconventional models of sub-cellular computation.Biophysics of Computation: Information Processing in Single Neurons serves as an ideal text for advanced undergraduate and graduate courses in cellular biophysics, computational neuroscience, and neural networks, and will appeal to students and professionals in neuroscience, electrical and computer engineering, and physics.
Covering theoretical methods and computational techniques in biomolecular research, this book focuses on approaches for the treatment of macromolecules, including proteins, nucleic acids, and bilayer membranes.
What every neuroscientist should know about the mathematical modeling of excitable cells, presented at an introductory level.
Time scale of diffusion in molecular and cellular biology. Journal of Physics A: Mathematical and Theoretical 47 (17): 173001. Holcman, D., and Z. Schuss. 2015. Stochastic Narrow Escape in Molecular an Cellular Biology: Analysis and ...
Exploring current themes in modern computational and membrane protein biophysics, this book presents a comprehensive account of the fundamental principles underlying different methods and techniques used to describe the intriguing ...
Starting with the broader picture from a biological perspective, this book takes the reader through fascinating dynamics within and outside of neurons in the brain.Alzheimer's Disease: Biology, Biophysics and Computational Models helps the ...
SO Rice, Bell Sys Tech J 23, 282–332 (1944) and 24, 46–156 (1945). Rieke et al. 1997. ... The use of X-ray diffraction in the study of protein and nucleic acid structure. KC Holmes and DM Blow, Meth Biochem Anal 13, 116–239 (1965).
In The Feeling of Life Itself, Christof Koch offers a straightforward definition of consciousness as any subjective experience, from the most mundane to the most exalted--the feeling of being alive.
However, the mechanisms involved in these properties are still only partly understood. Similar to many other domains, including
This book is an essential guide for young scientists on their way to research success in this exciting field.
Each chapter presents a compendium or a review of the original results achieved by authors in the last years. Furthermore, the book also wants to pinpoint the questions that are still open and that could propel future research.