Graduate Training Opportunities
in Mind Brain and Computation
Center for Mind, Brain, and
Computation
Stanford University
Key Questions about
Mind and Brain
•
How does the brain, process, represent,
and use information when we perceive,
think, act, and remember?
•
How does it learn to do these things
better?
•
How can our knowledge help us help
improve people’s lives?
•
Answering these questions requires a
convergence of disciplines:
–
–
–
–
Neuroscience
Engineering
Computer Science
Medicine
Basic Tenets
• Cognitive states are emergent consequences of
processes taking place within and between
neurons distributed widely within and across brain
regions
• Understanding these states, what supports them,
and their roles in cognition requires convergent
use of advanced quantitative and computational
ideas combined with experimental investigations.
Some Relevant Labs/Projects at
Stanford
• McClelland/Newsome:
– Computational models and
physiological investigations of
decision and choice.
• Shenoy/Sahani (UCL):
– Decoding activity of many
single neurons to understand
motor control and enable
neural control of prostheses.
• Ng:
– Neurally inspired machine
learning methods for better
models of visual cortex and
better tools for machine vision.
• Huguenard:
– Synchronous oscillatory
activity in the thalamocortical
system related to attention,
sleep, and epilepsy
• Boahen:
– Implementation of neural
mechanisms of processing and
learning in silico.
• Baccus:
– Dynamic predictive coding in
the retina: experimental and
computational investigations.
Current List of Training Faculty
•
Director:
– Jay McClelland, Psychology
•
Co-Director:
– Krishna Shenoy, Electrical Engineering
•
Steering Committee Members:
– Daphne Koller, Computer Science
– William Newsome, Neurobiology
– Brian Wandell, Psychology
Other Training Faculty:
Stephen Baccus, Neurobiology
Kwabena Boahen, Bioengineering
Karl Deisseroth, Bioengineering and Psychiatry
Scott Delp, Mechanical Engineering
Gary Glover, Radiology
Kalanit Grill-Spector, Psychology
Trevor Hastie, Statistics
John Huguenard, Neurology
Eric Knudsen, Neurobiology
Brian Knutson, Psychology
Robert Malenka, Psychiatry
Samuel McClure, Psychology
Vinod Menon, Psychiatry
Teresa Meng, EE & CS
Tirin Moore, Neurobiology
Andrew Ng, Computer Science
Jennifer Raymond, Neurobiology
Terence Sanger, Neurology
Mark Schnitzer, Biological Sciences
Carla Shatz, Biological Sciences and Neurobiology
Stephen Smith, Molecular & Cellular Physiology
Richard Tsein, Molecular & Cellular Physiology
Sebastian Thrun, CS &EE
Anthony Wagner, Psychology
Bernard Widrow, Electrical Engineering
MBC/IGERT Graduate Training Program
• Program and its activities are open to all interested
graduate students at Stanford
• Goals
– Increase integration across the community
– Attract outstanding students and faculty to the university
– Provide increased training funds for graduate students
• Activities
–
–
–
–
New courses
Bi-weekly seminar series (kickoff soon!)
Annual retreat
Encourage (and fund) students to pursue personalized training
programs leading to research projects that bridge computational
and experimental methodologies.
Integrative
IGERT/MBC Training Programs
• Student develops integrated training and research plan with
primary research advisor and complementary co-advisor.
• Plan should include specialized course series providing
convergent background needed (partial overlap with
required coursework encouraged)
• Plan should culminate in a trans-disciplinary research
project stretching the student beyond the usual boundaries
of his home Ph. D. program.
• Approved plans eligible for support from the MBC’s NSF
IGERT grant.
• Foreign travel and
Want to be Involved?
• Send mail to lehope@stanford.edu to get on
the distribution list.
• Attend the kickoff meeting and bi-weekly
seminar Monday evenings.
• Visit the MBC website:
www.stanford.edu/group/mbc
• Send email to me, mcclelland@stanford.edu