Advanced master students, doctoral students, and postdoctoral researchers are welcome to participate in the BNNI 2019 to be held at the FIAS, the Frankfurt institute for advanced studies, Frankfurt Main, Germany in August 2019.

The Course

The course is interdisciplinary and covers modeling at different levels of organization of the brain, from single neurons to microcircuits and networks. We will focus on differences between healthy and diseased brains.
Participants will learn about compartmental and morphological modeling of synapses, dendrites and neurons, as well as simulating local field potentials (LFPs).

The course combines lectures, tutorials and computer exercises. This summer school is the seventh in the series of the Baltic-Nordic Courses on Neuroinformatics (BNNI 2013 in Kaunas, Lithuania; BNNI 2014 in Tampere, Finland; BNNI 2015 in Tartu, Estonia; BNNI 2016 in Warsaw, Poland; BNNI 2017 in Kaunas, Lithuania; BNNI 2018 in Ventspils, Latvia).

• BNNI 2013 in Kaunas, Lithuania
• BNNI 2014 in Tampere, Finland
• BNNI 2015 in Tartu, Estonia
• BNNI 2016 in Warsaw, Poland
• BNNI 2017 in Kaunas, Lithuania
• BNNI 2018 in Ventspils, Latvia

Target audience

The target audience of the course will be advanced master students, doctoral students and postdoctoral researchers in biomedical and technology sciences, from medicine, biology, psychology, to mathematics, informatics, information technology, physics, chemistry, who would like to get an introduction to neuroinformatics and computational neuroscience. Some experience with programming and quantitative reasoning as well as strong interest in computational and mathematical modeling of the brain will be desirable but not necessary to benefit from the school. We will use the NEURON simulation environment for biophysical realistic models of neurons and the Matlab software package including the TREES toolbox. Desktop computers will be provided for the exercise part.

Faculty includes

Marja-Leena Linne, Faculty of Medicine and Health Technology, Tampere University, Tampere, Finland
Bruce Graham, Division of Computing Science and Mathematics, University of Stirling, U.K.
Ausra Saudargiene, Neuroscience Institute, Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, Kaunas, Lithuania
Arnd Roth, Wolfson Institute of Biomedical Research, University College London, UK
Misha Tsodyks, Department of Neurobiology, Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel
Dieter Jäger, Biology Department, Emory University, Atlanta, USA
Gaute Einevoll, Norwegian University of Life Sciences & University of Oslo, Norway
Matthew Larkum, Neurocure Cluster of Excellence, Humboldt University, Berlin, Germany
Daniel Wojcik, Nencki Institute, Warsaw, Poland
Hermann Cuntz, ESI & FIAS, Frankfurt, Germany
Peter Jedlicka, ICAR3R, Justus Liebig University Gießen, Germany
Gilles Laurent, MPI for Brain Research, Frankfurt, Germany
Jochen Triesch, FIAS, Frankfurt, Germany
Tatjana Tchumatchenko, MPI for Brain Research, Frankfurt, Germany
Julijana Gjorgjieva, MPI for Brain Research, Frankfurt, Germany
Arvind Kumar, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden
Aiste Pranckeviciene, Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, Kaunas, Lithuania
Viola Priesemann, MPI Göttingen, Germany
Matthias Kaschube, FIAS, Frankfurt, Germany

Organizers

Peter Jedlicka, ICAR3R, Justus Liebig University Gießen, Germany
Ausra Saudargiene, Neuroscience Institute, Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, Kaunas, Lithuania
Marja-Leena Linne, Faculty of Biomedical Sciences and Engineering, Tampere University of Technology, Tampere, Finland
Jochen Triesch, FIAS, Frankfurt, Germany
Martin Mittag, ICAR3R, Justus Liebig University Gießen, Germany
Herbert Ehrenberger, ICAR3R, Justus Liebig University Gießen, Germany
Susanne Steiner, FIAS, Frankfurt, Germany

25 August 2019 - Arrival

• An afternoon trip to Frankfurt's reconstructed old town and dinner

26 August 2019 - Day 1 - FIAS, Lecture Hall

• 8.00 - 8.30 Registration (Foyer)
• 8.30 - 9.15 Opening and Welcome
  Prof. Dr. Marja-Lena Linne, Faculty of Medicine and Health Technology, Tampere University, Tampere, Finland
  Introduction to neuroinformatics and computational neuroscience

• I-A SESSION: INTRODUCTION TO COMPUTATIONAL MODELING METHODS IN NEUROSCIENCE

• 9.15 - 10.45 Prof. Dr. Bruce Graham, Division of Computing Science and Mathematics, University of Stirling, U.K.
  From synapses and dendrites to neurons and networks: Basics of Computational Neuroscience
  
• 10.45 - 11.00 Coffee/Tea
• 11.00 – 11.30 Prof. Aušra Saudargienė, Neuroscience Institute, Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, Kaunas, Lithuania
  Memory, learning and synaptic plasticity in dendrites
• 11.30 - 12.30 Dr. Arnd Roth, Wolfson Institute of Biomedical Research, University College London, UK
  Introduction to NEURON
• 12.30 - 13.30 Lunch (TBA)
• 13.30 - 15.00 Prof. Dr. Misha Tsodyks, Department of Neurobiology, Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel
  Theoretical models of memory
• 15.00 - 15.15 Coffee/Tea
• 15.15 - 16.15 Prof. Dr. Dieter Jaeger, Biology Department, Emory University, Atlanta, USA
  Building biophysical models - Practical experiences and tips

• I-B SESSION: COMPUTER EXERCISES – COMPARTMENTAL MODELING OF NEURONS, DENDRITES AND SYNAPSES

• 16.30 - 19.30 Bruce Graham, Arnd Roth, Aušra Saudargienė
  Hands on exercises: Simulating synapses and neurons (NEURON software)

• 19.30
• Dinner and Networking

27 August 2019 - Day 2 - FIAS, Lecture Hall

• II-A SESSION: MORPHOLOGICAL AND COMPARTMENTAL MODELING OF DENDRITES

• 10.00 - 11.00 Prof. Dr. Matthew Larkum, Neurocure Cluster of Excellence, Humboldt University, Berlin, Germany
  Active properties of cortical dendrites
• 11.00 – 11.15 Coffe/Tea
• 11.15 - 11.45 Prof. Dr. Daniel Wojcik, Nencki Institute, Warsaw, Poland
  Extracellular electrophysiology from modeling perspective
• 11.45 - 12.30 Dr. Hermann Cuntz, ESI & FIAS, Frankfurt, Germany
  One rule to grow them all – A general theory of dendrite branching
• 12.30 - 13.00 Prof. Dr. Peter Jedlička, ICAR3R, Justus Liebig University Gießen, Germany
  Computational modeling of dendritic excitability and plasticity in healthy and diseased hippocampus
• 13.00 - 14.00 Lunch (TBA)

• II-B SESSION: HANDS-ON EXERCISES: MORPHOLOGICAL/COMPARTMENTAL MODELING OF DENDRITES, LFPs

• 14.00 - 18.00
  Hermann Cuntz, Peter Jedlička
  Hands on exercises: Matlab (TREES Toolbox, T2N)
  Misha Tsodyks
  Models of memory (Matlab software)
  Gaute Einevoll, Daniel Wojcik
  Forward and inverse modeling of LFP (LFPy, kCSD-python)
• 18.30 - 19.30
  Prof. Dr. Gilles Laurent, MPI for Brain Research, Frankfurt
  Evening lecture: Discovering principles of circuit dynamics through comparative approaches

• 20.00 - 21.30 Dinner (traditional “Apple-wine Pub”)

28 August 2019 - Day 3 - FIAS, Lecture Hall

• III-A SESSION: FROM NEURONS TO NETWORKS – PHYSIOLOGY & PATHOLOGY OF NEURONAL COMPUTATION

• 9.00 - 9.45 Prof. Dr. Jochen Triesch, FIAS, Frankfurt
  Neural oligarchy in normal and epileptic networks
• 9.45 - 10.30 Dr. Tatjana Tchumatchenko, MPI for Brain Research, Frankfurt
  How to understand normal and disrupted neural network dynamics via intracellular dynamics
• 10.30 - 11.00 Coffee/Tea
• 11.00 - 11.45 Prof. Dr. Julijana Gjorgjieva, MPI for Brain Research, Frankfurt
  Shaping developing circuits by patterned spontaneous and early sensory activity
• 11.45 – 12.30 Prof. Arvind Kumar, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm
  Network modeling of neurological disorders
• 12.30 – 13.00 Dr. Aistė Pranckevičienė, Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, Kaunas, Lithuania
  From function to structure: Clinical neuropsychological perspective
• 13.00 - 14.00 Lunch (TBA)
• 14.00 - 14.45 Dr. Viola Priesemann, MPI Göttingen
  Stability and instability in neural networks
• 14.45 - 15.30 Prof. Dr. Matthias Kaschube, FIAS, Frankfurt
  Circuit models of network interactions in developing neocortex

• III-B SESSION: MEET THE EXPERTS: EVERYTHING YOU ALWAYS WANTED TO KNOW ABOUT COMPUTATIONAL NEUROSCIENCE (BUT WERE AFRAID TO ASK)

• 15.30 - 15.45 Coffee/Tea
• 15.45 - 17.45 Jochen Triesch, Tatjana Tchumatchenko, Viola Priesemann, Julijana Gjorgjieva, Arvind Kumar
  Meet the Experts