Computational Neuroscience and Cognitive Modelling: A Student's Introduction to Methods and Procedures / Edition 1

by Britt Anderson

Overview

This unique, self-contained and accessible textbook provides an introduction to computational modelling in psychology and neuroscience accessible to students with little or no background in computing or mathematics.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781446249307
Publisher:	SAGE Publications
Publication date:	02/04/2014
Pages:	240
Product dimensions:	6.70(w) x 9.40(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Britt Anderson graduated from the University of Southern California School of Medicine and trained in Neurology at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas. Subsequently, he received a Ph D in Brain Science from Brown University. Since 2007 he has been a faculty member in the Dept of Psychology and a member of the Centre for Theoretical Neuroscience at the University of Waterloo, Canada.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1: Introduction
PART 1: Modeling Neurons
Chapter 2: What is a Differential Equation?
Chapter 3: Numerical Application of a Differential Equation
Chapter 4: Intermezzo: Computing With Loops
Chapter 5: Integrate & Fire
Chapter 6: Intermezzo: Computing With If Statements
Chapter 7: Hodgkin & Huxley: The Men and Their Model
Chapter 8: Intermezzo: Computing With Functions
PART 2: Neural Networks
Chapter 9: Neural Network Mathematics: Vectors and Matrices
Chapter 10: Intermezzo: Interactive Computing
Chapter 11: An Introduction to Neural Networks
Chapter 12: Intermezzo: Interactive Exploration of the Delta Rule with Octave
Chapter 13: Auto-associative Memory and the Hopfield Net
PART 3: Probability and Psychological Models
Chapter 14: What are the Odds?
Chapter 15: Decisions as Random Walks
Chapter 16: Intermezzo: Programming Psychophysical Experiments with Python
PART 4: Cognitive Modeling as Logic and Rules
Chapter 17: Boolean Logic
Chapter 18: Intermezzo: Computing With Functional Languages
Chapter 19: Production Rules and Cognition
Chapter 20: Intermezzo: Functional Coding of a Simple Production System
Chapter 21 ACT-R: A Cognitive Architecture
Chapter 22: Agent Based Modeling
Chapter 23: Concluding Remarks

Editorial Reviews

For the neuroscientist or psychologist who cringes at the sight of mathematical formulae and whose eyes glaze over at terms like differential equations, linear algebra, vectors, matrices, Bayes’ rule, and Boolean logic, this book just might be the therapy needed. Britt Anderson guides the reader into the world of computational methods; writing lucidly and grounding this journey with elegantly constructed exercises. His slender book is an invitation to use tools that will help students and scientists think about neural and psychological mechanisms with rigor and precision.

Anjan Chatterjee

The neural and cognitive sciences are increasingly quantitative and computational subjects, and curriculums are now attempting to reflect this emerging reality. Accordingly, an important educational challenge is to inform undergraduate students of the significance of computational thinking, while also preparing them to appreciate and criticize it. An Invitation to Computational Neuroscience and Cognitive Modeling achieves this difficult goal wonderfully. Anderson provides a gentle introduction to computational aspects of psychological science, managing to respect the reader’s intelligence while also being completely unintimidating. Using carefully-selected computational demonstrations, he guides students through a wide array of important approaches and tools, with little in the way of prerequisites. As well as a very practical introduction to computer programming, there is impressive coverage of dynamical systems models of neurons, neural network models of memory, probabilistic models of decision-making, and mathematical models of thought. I recommend it with enthusiasm.

Asohan Amarasingham