Achievement

A new course, Statistical Models of the Brain, was offered for the first time in January 2011, taught by CMU Statistics professor Rob Kass. The course examines the way statistical ideas play out within the brain sciences via a series of case studies on the role of stochastic models in scientific investigation. Many contemporary theories of neural system behavior are built with statistical models. For example, integrate-and-fire neurons are usually assumed to be driven in part by stochastic noise; the role of spike timing involves the distinction between Poisson and non-Poisson neurons; and oscillations are characterized by decomposing variation into frequency-based components.. Students used MATLAB to run demo programs and work problem sets.

The course was approved as a means of satisfying the computational neuroscience core requirement of the CNBC graduate training program and IGERT program.