Systems Neuroscience
Fall semester 2023
INI415

Organizer: Daniel C. Kiper

Time: Tuesday, 8.15 am to 10:00
Location: Y35 F 32
First lecture on Tuesday 19.9.2023


This course focuses on the treatment of information in primate cortex. We will learn about the sensory, motor, and cognitive systems that underlie human behavior. In addition to the lectures, we have one hour of exercises each week. These will consist in readings you have to do, as well as practical excercises. You will be informed about these requirements in the course of the lectures. There will be a final exam that covers the material covered in the lectures, and the additional readings given as exercises.

If you'd like to consult a good text book, I recommend: "Principles of Neural Science", edited by Kandel, Schwartz and Jessell, 4th edition.

Language: English (but you can speak german...)

If you have a question, just contact me (kiper@ini.ethz.ch).

The exam is a multiple-choice written exam that takes place on the last day of the course.
It will take place on December 19, from 8.15 to 9.15, in room Y35 F 32 (our usual lecture hall).

19.9 Introduction, start of visual system. Here are the slides.
Here is the recording.

26.9 Visual system, continued.
Here are the recordings, part 1 and part 2.
Exercise for the visual system: read (and understand!) this paper.

3.10 Auditory system. Here are the slides.
Here is the recording.
And here is a nice youtube video to explain the stuff we saw in class (with a couple of corrections compared to what I said, can you find them)?
Thanks to Ishwarya Sutharsan for this link!

10.10 Same slides as last week.
Here is the recording.
Exercise on auditory system: read this review on human auditory cortex

17.10 CLASS CANCELLED

24.10 Vestibular system. Here are the slides.
Here is the recording.

31.10 Somatosensory system
Exercise: review of vestibular system
Here is the recording

7.11 End of somatosensory system
Here is the recording.
Here a mandatory paper to read on somatosensry information in humans and machines
And here sample exam questions on vision and audition

14.11 The chemical senses
The exercise will be given in class.
Here is the recording.

21.11 Motor system(s). Here are the slides.
Here is the recording.
Mandatory exercise: watch this Ted Talk by D. Wolpert.

28.11 The autonomic nervous systems
Here is the recording

5.12 Limbic system
Here is the recording
And the mandatory reading: review of the limbic system(s).