CourseCatalog

Proseminar: Introduction to Vision Science: Part II GM231A 6.0 Credits This seminar gives a basic introduction to post-retinal visual processes and perception. The emphasis is on providing a background to the functional neurobiology of the cortex. This seminar is aimed at students in the PhD program. Lecturers will impart basic information and ideas and also stress current foci of research interest. There will also be an emphasis on introducing research methods and their pitfalls. These topics will then be further pursued in the tutorial program. Prerequisite: Required for all PhD students. 2.0 Credits This course will provide basic knowledge and skills for students conducting research in optometry and vision science. It will offer guidance on how to successfully design, conduct, and disseminate research in basic, translational, or clinical areas. Prerequisite: Required for all MS students. Vision Science Journal Club for MS Students GM241A 2.0 Credits Journal Club for MS students covers the skills needed to read and discuss research papers in a comprehensive manner in order to understand their scientific and clinical value. Basic types of research papers, paper structure, writing styles and strategies to read and understand papers will be covered. The course format combines a face-to-face lecture component, along with weekly assignments. All students will also have to present at least one paper. Prerequisites: Required for all MS students. 2.0 Credits Molecular biology gains more and more importance in developmental biology, regenerative medicine as well as clinical research. The methods to visualize, quantify and manipulate gene expression and/or distinct molecules are rapidly evolving. This course is an interactive course. It will give an overview of the three major molecule groups, i.e., DNA, RNA and protein and deepen the knowledge about current techniques to evaluate (measure or visualize) or alter these molecules. Techniques include overexpression or inhibition (knock out) models, molecule transfer, molecule tracing, online tools. Moreover, datasets (can be own data or data from papers/external) will be analyzed in class as well as independently by the students. The topics include standard and new cutting-edge techniques for working with DNA, RNA and protein as well as the use of web browsers and online databanks. Students will also perform their own search for additional tools and methods of data analysis and will present and discuss these findings in short talks (incl. abstract). Prerequisite : PhD students or permission of instructor. Advanced Topics in Molecular Biology GM255A Visual Attention: Psychophysics, Physiology and Modeling Tutorial GD261A 2.0 Credits Visual attention allows us to strategically select, filter and prioritize the vast amount of information in the visual environment. Attention’s critical role in mediating perception has been appreciated for over a century, as William James (1890) observed that: “millions of items... are present to my senses which never properly enter into my experience... My experience is what I agree to attend to... without select ive interest, experience is an utter chaos.” This tutorial Research Survival Skills GM240A

investigates the neural processes underlying visual attention. Prerequisite : PhD students or permission of instructor.

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