Mediaspace scheduled maintenance: Aug 25, 2026 07:00 - 12:00 AM. During this time, videos will be temporarily unavailable. Check status updates.

Lecture

Neocortical Neuron Classification

In course

NX-450: Computational neurosciences: biophysics

The course introduces students to a synthesis of modern neuroscience and state-of-the-art data management, modelling and computing technologies with a focus on the biophysical level. ...

Description

This lecture covers the detailed morphology and ion channels of neocortical neurons, focusing on ion channel kinetics, neuron classification, and the Petilla terminology. It discusses the challenges in obtaining data for modeling individual cells versus classes and the importance of multimodal datasets. The lecture also delves into the localization and maximum conductances of ion channels, as well as the challenges in fitting somatic and dendritic behaviors. It concludes with a discussion on the degeneracy of found solutions and the integration of data from literature and web resources.

This video is available exclusively on Mediaspace for a restricted audience. Please log in to MediaSpace to access it if you have the necessary permissions.

Watch on Mediaspace

Instructors (2)

Felix Schürmann

Felix Schürmann is co-director of the Blue Brain Project and involved in several research challenges of the European Human Brain Project. He studied physics at the University of Heidelberg, Germany, supported by the German National Academic Foundation. Later, as a Fulbright Scholar, he obtained his Master's degree (M.S.) in Physics from the State University of New York, Buffalo, USA, under the supervision of Richard Gonsalves. During these studies, he became curious about the role of different computing substrates and dedicated his master thesis to the simulation of quantum computing. He studied for his Ph.D. at the University of Heidelberg, Germany, under the supervision of Karlheinz Meier. For his thesis he co-designed an efficient implementation of a neural network in hardware.

Armando Romani

Official source

Ontological neighbourhood

Biology

Cell biology: Neurotransmission

Related concepts (32)

Ion channel

Ion channels are pore-forming membrane proteins that allow ions to pass through the channel pore. Their functions include establishing a resting membrane potential, shaping action potentials and other electrical signals by gating the flow of ions across the cell membrane, controlling the flow of ions across secretory and epithelial cells, and regulating cell volume. Ion channels are present in the membranes of all cells. Ion channels are one of the two classes of ionophoric proteins, the other being ion transporters.

Data integration

Data integration involves combining data residing in different sources and providing users with a unified view of them. This process becomes significant in a variety of situations, which include both commercial (such as when two similar companies need to merge their databases) and scientific (combining research results from different bioinformatics repositories, for example) domains. Data integration appears with increasing frequency as the volume (that is, big data) and the need to share existing data explodes.

Voltage-gated ion channel

Voltage-gated ion channels are a class of transmembrane proteins that form ion channels that are activated by changes in the electrical membrane potential near the channel. The membrane potential alters the conformation of the channel proteins, regulating their opening and closing. Cell membranes are generally impermeable to ions, thus they must diffuse through the membrane through transmembrane protein channels. They have a crucial role in excitable cells such as neuronal and muscle tissues, allowing a rapid and co-ordinated depolarization in response to triggering voltage change.

Neocortex

The neocortex, also called the neopallium, isocortex, or the six-layered cortex, is a set of layers of the mammalian cerebral cortex involved in higher-order brain functions such as sensory perception, cognition, generation of motor commands, spatial reasoning and language. The neocortex is further subdivided into the true isocortex and the proisocortex. In the human brain, the cerebral cortex consists of the larger neocortex and the smaller allocortex. The neocortex is made up of six layers, labelled from the outermost inwards, I to VI.

Semantic integration

Semantic integration is the process of interrelating information from diverse sources, for example calendars and to do lists, email archives, presence information (physical, psychological, and social), documents of all sorts, contacts (including social graphs), search results, and advertising and marketing relevance derived from them. In this regard, semantics focuses on the organization of and action upon information by acting as an intermediary between heterogeneous data sources, which may conflict not only by structure but also context or value.

Related lectures (37)

In Silico Neuroscience: Ion Channels and Neuronal Models

Explores detailed modeling of ion channels and neuronal morphologies in in silico neuroscience, covering neuron classification, ion channel kinetics, and experimental observations.

Biophysical Understanding of Neuronal Electrical Behavior

Explores the biophysical understanding of neuronal electrical behavior, including challenges in modeling neurons, the generation of action potentials, and the impact of dendritic structure on firing patterns.

Modeling the electrical activity of the neuron MOOC: Simulation Neurocience

Explores the modeling of neuron electrical activity, including ion channels and concentrations, Nernst equation, and resting potential.

Cellular Mechanisms of Brain Function

Explores cellular mechanisms of brain function, focusing on ion channels and action potentials.

Action Potentials and Electrical Excitability