Courses taught by Dennis Barbour.
BME E62 519: Advanced Cognitive, Computational and Systems Neuroscience
Experimental neuroscience is increasingly faced with much more substantial and sophisticated data today than was common throughout the 20th century. As a result, drawing conclusions from modern experiments often requires more advanced techniques than students may be familiar with. This course aims to educate students about useful mature and emerging methodologies for uncovering important trends in neuroscience data.
BME E62 474: Open Challenges in Systems Neuroscience
The objective of this course is to introduce advanced graduate engineering students to key challenges for the next generation of systems neuroscientists. One-half of the course will introduce students to the neural bases of canonical behavioral motifs following the text of 23 Problems in Systems Neuroscience. One-half of the course will have students identify and present a proposal for how to study an open challenge in the treatment of neurological/psychiatric disorders (e.g., dystonia, epilepsy, depression, addiction) at either circuit or system level. Grades will be assigned to correspond with performance on the written report covering an open-challenge. Prerequisites: Completion of departmental mathematics requirements. This course will also be open to non-engineers upon request.
Inter D 150: Identity Literacy: An Introduction to Cultural Competence in a Diverse World
This course provides students the opportunity to explore how identities form, intersect, and are negotiated within some of our nation’s most visible and controversial contemporary moments. In grappling with how identities are constructed and contested, you will be exposed to the processes of reflection, vocabulary, and concepts that will prepare you to engage with a variety of identity groups. You will also be introduced to the ways in which political, economic, and institutional structures interact with identity.
BME E62 5771: Biomedical Product Development
Advances in science and technology have opened the healthcare field to innovation now more than any other time in history. Engineers and inventors can make real and rapid improvements to patient treatments, length of hospital stay, procedure time, cost containment, and accessibility to treatment. However, a successful transition from idea to implementation requires careful market analysis and strategy planning. This course will address the steps in this process, including personal and team strength assessement, medical need validation, brainstorming initial solutions, market analysis, solution evaluation, regulatory, patent, and intellectual property concerns, manufacturability, risk assessment and mitigation, and global considerations.
BME E62 5772: Biomedical Business Development
For medical innovators, a successful translation from product to market will require careful strategy and an understanding of the steps needed to form and fund a biotech business, either as a new startup or as an extension of the product line of an existing company. This course will address the steps in this process, including intellectual property concerns, R&D, clinical strategy, regulatory issues, quality management, reimbursement, marketing strategy, sales and distribution, operating plans, and approaches to funding.
BME E72 5906: Brain Networks
Large networks of interconnecting elements are now accessible for study with increasingly sophisticated simulation methods. Brain networks represent an exceptionally attractive target for such study. This course includes a survey of modern analytic methodology used to evaluate a range of biological neural networks from relatively simple cellular networks in model animals and in vitro to abstracted networks of functional areas in the human cerebral cortex. Coursework will involve lectures on methodology and recent findings as well as readings from the primary literature.
BME E72 533: Biomedical Signal Processing
Purpose of this course is to introduce graduate students with little signal processing background to advanced signal processing techniques that could be useful for their research. Students in the past have fit the profile of students for whom the course was designed and, but students more recently are more advanced and could benefit from advanced ESE courses. Otherwise, the practical exercises definitely give students confidence in applying signal processing techniques to their research.
BME E72 504: Light Microscopy and Optical Imaging
Purpose of this survey course is to introduce students to the fundamentals of light microscopy and more advanced optical imaging modalities. Students design their own imaging experiment on paper and write a grant. Students report that learning the theory behind microscopy improves their use of microscopy for research.
BME E62 301A, Quantitative Physiology I
A course (lectures and supervised laboratory sections) designed to elaborate the physiological background necessary for advanced work in biomedical engineering. A quantitative model-oriented approach to physiological systems is stressed. Topics include nerve action potentials; electromyography; skeletal muscle mechanics.
Biol L41 5691, Mathematics and Statistics of Experimental Neuroscience, Fundamentals of Statistics Module
This module is intended to introduce a diverse group of graduate students to the theory behind descriptive and inferential statistics, statistical estimators, hypothesis testing and regression analysis. Students should be able to take what they learn and improve their use of statistics in their research.
Psych L33 519, Advanced Cognitive, Computational and Systems Neuroscience, Sensation and Perception Module
This module takes a single topic of sensory neuroscience and traces it to the present through selected readings. Students learn about issues of sensory coding, how relevant experiments are devised and conducted, as well as the confidence with which we can draw certain results.
Biol 5651, Neural Systems Lab, Auditory Module
This module is intended to give graduate students an overview of the anatomy and physiology of the auditory system.