Hack the Senses

The techniques of experimental neuroscience advance at an incredible pace. They incorporate developments from many different fields, requiring new researchers to acquire a broad range of skills and expertise (from building electronic hardware to designing optical systems to training deep neural networks). This overwhelming task encourages students to move quickly, but often by skipping over some essential underlying knowledge.

This course was designed to fill-in the knowledge gaps of experimental modern technology. It introduces the essentials of sensors, motor control, microcontrollers, programming, data analysis, and machine learning by guiding students through the “hands on” construction of an increasingly capable robot. In parallel, concepts in neuroscience are introduced as nature’s solution to the challenges that participants encounter while designing and building their own intelligent system.

The unique integrated understanding of modern technology of this course has helped many scientist with no prior knowledge to use and design novel state-of-the-art neuroscience experiments.