Biophysics of Computation

Biophysics of Computation PDF

Author: Christof Koch

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2004-10-28

Total Pages: 587

ISBN-13: 0195181999

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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.

Biological Computation

Biological Computation PDF

Author: Ehud Lamm

Publisher: CRC Press

Published: 2011-05-25

Total Pages: 332

ISBN-13: 1420087967

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The area of biologically inspired computing, or biological computation, involves the development of new, biologically based techniques for solving difficult computational problems. A unified overview of computer science ideas inspired by biology, Biological Computation presents the most fundamental and significant concepts in this area. In the book

Computational Biochemistry and Biophysics

Computational Biochemistry and Biophysics PDF

Author: Oren M. Becker

Publisher: CRC Press

Published: 2001-02-09

Total Pages: 534

ISBN-13: 9780203903827

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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. It uses concepts in free energy calculations, conformational analysis, reaction rates, and transition pathways to calculate and interpret b

Single Neuron Computation

Single Neuron Computation PDF

Author: Thomas M. McKenna

Publisher: Academic Press

Published: 2014-05-19

Total Pages: 644

ISBN-13: 1483296067

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This book contains twenty-two original contributions that provide a comprehensive overview of computational approaches to understanding a single neuron structure. The focus on cellular-level processes is twofold. From a computational neuroscience perspective, a thorough understanding of the information processing performed by single neurons leads to an understanding of circuit- and systems-level activity. From the standpoint of artificial neural networks (ANNs), a single real neuron is as complex an operational unit as an entire ANN, and formalizing the complex computations performed by real neurons is essential to the design of enhanced processor elements for use in the next generation of ANNs. The book covers computation in dendrites and spines, computational aspects of ion channels, synapses, patterned discharge and multistate neurons, and stochastic models of neuron dynamics. It is the most up-to-date presentation of biophysical and computational methods.

A Primer for Computational Biology

A Primer for Computational Biology PDF

Author: Shawn T. O'Neil

Publisher:

Published: 2017-12-21

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9780870719264

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A Primer for Computational Biology aims to provide life scientists and students the skills necessary for research in a data-rich world. The text covers accessing and using remote servers via the command-line, writing programs and pipelines for data analysis, and provides useful vocabulary for interdisciplinary work. The book is broken into three parts: Introduction to Unix/Linux: The command-line is the "natural environment" of scientific computing, and this part covers a wide range of topics, including logging in, working with files and directories, installing programs and writing scripts, and the powerful "pipe" operator for file and data manipulation. Programming in Python: Python is both a premier language for learning and a common choice in scientific software development. This part covers the basic concepts in programming (data types, if-statements and loops, functions) via examples of DNA-sequence analysis. This part also covers more complex subjects in software development such as objects and classes, modules, and APIs. Programming in R: The R language specializes in statistical data analysis, and is also quite useful for visualizing large datasets. This third part covers the basics of R as a programming language (data types, if-statements, functions, loops and when to use them) as well as techniques for large-scale, multi-test analyses. Other topics include S3 classes and data visualization with ggplot2.

Computational Cell Biology

Computational Cell Biology PDF

Author: Christopher P. Fall

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2007-06-04

Total Pages: 468

ISBN-13: 0387224599

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This textbook provides an introduction to dynamic modeling in molecular cell biology, taking a computational and intuitive approach. Detailed illustrations, examples, and exercises are included throughout the text. Appendices containing mathematical and computational techniques are provided as a reference tool.

Computational Neuroscience

Computational Neuroscience PDF

Author: Hanspeter A Mallot

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2013-05-23

Total Pages: 135

ISBN-13: 3319008617

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Computational Neuroscience - A First Course provides an essential introduction to computational neuroscience and equips readers with a fundamental understanding of modeling the nervous system at the membrane, cellular, and network level. The book, which grew out of a lecture series held regularly for more than ten years to graduate students in neuroscience with backgrounds in biology, psychology and medicine, takes its readers on a journey through three fundamental domains of computational neuroscience: membrane biophysics, systems theory and artificial neural networks. The required mathematical concepts are kept as intuitive and simple as possible throughout the book, making it fully accessible to readers who are less familiar with mathematics. Overall, Computational Neuroscience - A First Course represents an essential reference guide for all neuroscientists who use computational methods in their daily work, as well as for any theoretical scientist approaching the field of computational neuroscience.

The Feeling of Life Itself

The Feeling of Life Itself PDF

Author: Christof Koch

Publisher: MIT Press

Published: 2019-09-24

Total Pages: 277

ISBN-13: 0262042819

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A thought-provoking argument that consciousness—more widespread than previously assumed—is the feeling of being alive, not a type of computation or a clever hack 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. Psychologists study which cognitive operations underpin a given conscious perception. Neuroscientists track the neural correlates of consciousness in the brain, the organ of the mind. But why the brain and not, say, the liver? How can the brain—three pounds of highly excitable matter, a piece of furniture in the universe, subject to the same laws of physics as any other piece—give rise to subjective experience? Koch argues that what is needed to answer these questions is a quantitative theory that starts with experience and proceeds to the brain. In The Feeling of Life Itself, Koch outlines such a theory, based on integrated information. Koch describes how the theory explains many facts about the neurology of consciousness and how it has been used to build a clinically useful consciousness meter. The theory predicts that many, and perhaps all, animals experience the sights and sounds of life; consciousness is much more widespread than conventionally assumed. Contrary to received wisdom, however, Koch argues that programmable computers will not have consciousness. Even a perfect software model of the brain is not conscious. Its simulation is fake consciousness. Consciousness is not a special type of computation—it is not a clever hack. Consciousness is about being.

Computational Methods for Physics

Computational Methods for Physics PDF

Author: Joel Franklin

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2013-05-23

Total Pages: 419

ISBN-13: 1107067855

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There is an increasing need for undergraduate students in physics to have a core set of computational tools. Most problems in physics benefit from numerical methods, and many of them resist analytical solution altogether. This textbook presents numerical techniques for solving familiar physical problems where a complete solution is inaccessible using traditional mathematical methods. The numerical techniques for solving the problems are clearly laid out, with a focus on the logic and applicability of the method. The same problems are revisited multiple times using different numerical techniques, so readers can easily compare the methods. The book features over 250 end-of-chapter exercises. A website hosted by the author features a complete set of programs used to generate the examples and figures, which can be used as a starting point for further investigation. A link to this can be found at www.cambridge.org/9781107034303.

The Quest for Consciousness

The Quest for Consciousness PDF

Author: Christof Koch

Publisher: Roberts Publishers

Published: 2004

Total Pages: 456

ISBN-13:

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Consciousness is the major unsolved problem in biology. Written as an introduction to the field and drawing upon clinical, psychological and physiological observations, this book seeks to answer questions of consciousness within a neuroscientific framework.