Syntax, semantics, and proof theory of sentential and predicate logic.

Syntax, semantics, and proof theory of sentential and predicate logic.

Syntax, semantics, and proof theory of sentential and predicate logic.

Electrical oscillatory activity in the brain has been associated with memory, decision making, movement control and transfer of information between distant areas of the brain. This class has the same title as the famous book by Gyorgy Buzsaki, because this book represents a great of what we know today about electrical oscillations in the brain. How the oscillatory nature of the electrical activity of the brain leads to function, can be imagined in simple activities such as walking and breathing. Even though we will use Buzsaki’s book as an important landpost, the course will follow its own path. The course will be built upon three main ideas: Biophysical models of neuronal electrical communication, ideas from evolution and development and insights from Neurodegenerative diseases. We introduce the main techniques used in signal processing such as the Fast Fourier Transform (FFT), the Hilbert transform and how they are used to understand the Phase Amplitude Coupling (PAC) where the phase of low frequency oscillations controls the amplitude of the high frequency. Current theories of hippocampus function in memory suggest that the phase coupling maybe involved in the transfer of information to and from the hippocampus during the acquisition, consolidation and retrieval of memory. Numerical techniques to solve differential equations will be introduced and their accuracy and stability will be assessed using well known methods of approximation. A section will be dedicated to study finite elements method to solve differential equations. We will study several main areas of interest in neuroscience and cognition: memory and the underlying communication between hippocampus and cortical areas; movement control through the study of the cortico-basal-thalamic loops. Modulation of mesolimbic and nigrostriatal pathways by dopamine. Modulation of cortico-hippocampal circuits by acetylcholine and the participation of these circuits in the onset of Alzheimer disease. We will study the coherence of electrical oscillations in different parts of the brain and how that coherence can be disturbed in certain diseases such as schizophrenia. One of the objectives of this course is to provide advanced students in cognitive science, psychology, computer science and biology with the skills to develop numerical methods used in the study of neuroscience and cognition. The course is designed for advanced students in cognitive science, psychology, or computer science who are interested in developing computational models of cognition. Prerequisites are a basic familiarity with programming (as might be obtained from CS 61A or Eng 7), exposure to cognitive science (e.g., CogSci C1), comfort with basic calculus (e.g., Math 1A), and discrete math (e.g., Math 55 or CS 70). The main concepts from calculus and discrete math students will need to know to be successful in the class are: The fundamental theorem of calculus, numerical approximation of derivatives, Taylor expansion and basic concepts of linear algebra. These concepts will be reviewed in class.

This course will explore cognitive and affective components of happiness, including pleasure, meaning, and well-being, as well as associated patterns of neural activity. Included will be a discussion of the neuropsychological basis of negative emotions, including sadness, fear, and anger, as well as an overview of the particular types of negative thought patterns associated with various psychological disorders, including mood disorders, anxiety disorders, and PTSD, and their neurological underpinnings. We will then turn to an evaluation of research findings from the new field of self-directed neuroplasticity. This will include a discussion of various evidence-based psychotherapeutic techniques for releasing and transforming negative thoughts and cultivating positive ones, including mindfulness, gratitude, and other cognitive-behavioral techniques, such as behavioral activation and reappraisal. We will examine how those techniques may affect perception, attention, judgment, and memory and change neurological structure and function in the short run and in the long run. Comparisons will be made to effects of psychoactive drugs, both legal and illegal, as well as brain stimulation techniques used to treat psychological disorders. Lastly, we will look briefly at recent developments involving use of neuroimaging data to predict which types of psychotherapeutic techniques may be most effective for a particular individual.

Introduction to the philosophy of mind. Topics to be considered may include the relation between mind and body; the structure of action; the nature of desires and beliefs; the role of the unconscious.

Beliefs, perceptions, intentions, feelings: we recognize these states of mind in ourselves and other people. But what is it to have a mind, or to be a subject of conscious experience? What is it to have a perspective on the world, as opposed to merely existing in it? In this class we’ll study these questions and related ones, looking at how they have been treated by philosophers in the past, and evaluating them by our own lights. Topics may include: the metaphysical nature of consciousness, the relationship between mental states and overt behavior, our knowledge of others’ mental states, how the content of our beliefs is determined by aspects of our physical or social environment.

The history of modern philosophy from Descartes through Kant.

The history of modern philosophy from Descartes through Kant.

In this course we will survey philosophy written during the Early Modern period of the 17th and 18th centuries. Specifically, we will study the emergence of the New Science and its break with Scholastic Aristotelianism, the school of thought that had dominated philosophy throughout the late Medieval period. We will learn how the proponents of this New Science offered novel approaches, and answers, to the hotly debated philosophical questions of their day, including metaphysical questions such as: what are the fundamental building blocks, or substances, that comprise our reality? What are the causal relations between these substances, bodies, minds, and God? And epistemological questions, such as: what sorts of metaphysical truths can we know, and how is it possible for us to know them? And, to what extent, if any, can we trust our senses, or beliefs formed on the basis of experience? We will start by reading, in roughly chronological order, Galileo and the so-called rationalist works of Descartes, Elisabeth, Amo, Spinoza, and Leibniz, before tackling the empiricist works of Locke, Berkeley, and Hume. Finally, we will end the course with a comprehensive introduction to Kant, who, responding to these philosophers, critiqued the very possibility of metaphysics, while nevertheless aiming to salvage some of its principles, as well as empirical knowledge, from an array of skeptical worries introduced by his predecessors.