Simulation Neuroscience is an emerging approach to integrate the knowledge dispersed throughout the field of neuroscience. The aim is to build a unified empirical picture of the brain, to study the biological mechanisms of brain function, behaviour and disease. This is achieved by integrating diverse data sources across the various scales of experimental neuroscience, from molecular to clinical, into computer simulations. This is a unique, massive open online course taught by a multi-disciplinary team of world-renowned scientists.In this first course, you will gain the knowledge and skills needed to create simulations of biological neurons and synapses. This course is part of a series of three courses, where you will learn to use state-of-the-art modeling tools of the HBP Brain Simulation Platform to simulate neurons, build neural networks, and perform your own simulation experiments. We invite you to join us and share in our passion to reconstruct, simulate and understand the brain!

La conservación tiene una función fundamental para el bienestar ambiental y humano. Este curso aportará una perspectiva interdisciplinar de la conservación ambiental como base crítica de la investigación e intervención. Está dirigido a colectivos de la sociedad civil, organizaciones no gubernamentales, estudiantes y otros ciudadanos interesados. A lo largo del curso, aprenderás sobre los siguientes temas: ● Conceptos básicos de biodiversidad, los avances metodológicos sobre la estimación de servicios ecosistémicos y las discusiones contemporáneas sobre contribuciones de la naturaleza y motores de pérdida de biodiversidad. ● Motores de deforestación, impacto del cambio climático en la biodiversidad y la capacidad capacidad para apreciar de manera multidimensional los efectos de la deforestación sobre los seres humanos, los ecosistemas y el Sistema Tierra. ● La conservación ambiental entendida desde muchas formas de ver y estar en el mundo que surgen precisamente de las múltiples valoraciones de la naturaleza. ● Las principales estrategias de conservación, cómo se definen, qué tipologías existen y cuáles son las historias y los atributos de las estrategias de conservación basadas en áreas. ● La definición de un programa de monitoreo de estrategias de conservación y las ventajas del monitoreo comunitario. Este curso emplea distintas herramientas interactivas gráficas, textuales y audiovisuales para mostrar las definiciones, las discusiones contemporáneas y algunas herramientas metodológicas de la conservación ambiental. Además, el curso integra las voces de diferentes expertos y múltiples ejemplos que te ayudarán a comprender mejor los fundamentos de la conservación.

Interested in taking AP Biology, or an advanced biology course, but unsure if you are ready? This is the course for you! This short course will briefly review basic concepts covered in AP Biology, and will include advanced challenge questions. Starting with a review of genetics and related content, the course will prepare you to tackle Investigation 2 and 3 of the AP Biology curriculum. You will learn how to create a mathematical model of populations and be able to compare DNA and Protein sequences using BLAST. The students who complete this mini-course will be better prepared to tackle more advanced course material in the future. Advanced Placement® and AP® are trademarks registered and/or owned by the College Board, which was not involved in the production of, and does not endorse, these offerings.

Neurons in isolation are fascinating and complicated, but the real magic of neuroscience happens in the interaction between neurons. In this course, we examine how neurons pass signals to one another and how complex dynamics can result from just a few neurons arranged in relatively simple circuits. Continue your journey through our Fundamentals of Neuroscience series with animations that explore the richness and complexity of the brain, documentaries about working labs around Cambridge. Join us as we use virtual labs that simulate neuron circuitry as we investigate the collective behavior of neurons and learn how the brain modulates the signals in those networks.

Fundamentals of Neuroscience is a three-courseseries that explores the structure and function of the nervous system—from the inner workings of a single nerve cell to the staggering complexity of the brain and the social interactions they enable. In this first course, you'll learn how individual neurons use electricity to transmit information. You'll build a neuron, piece by piece, using interactive simulations, then travel around Harvard's campus, where you'll see the inner workings of a lab and learn how to conduct DIY neuroscience experiments on your own. Join us as we study the electrical properties in individual neurons, building a foundation for understanding the function of the entire nervous system.

The human brain is a fantastically complex system, capable of transforming a torrent of incoming information into thought and action. In this course, we will look at how the various subsystems of the brain work together to enable us to survive and thrive in a changing world. Each lesson will challenge you with interactive segments, animations, and documentaries that explore the richness and complexity of the brain. Our forums will provide you with a place to meet other students around the world, and you can learn from each other through a series of discussion questions. Do you want to learn about how brains perceive the world? Join us as we explore sensation, perception and the physiology of functional regions of the brain.

There is an overload of information about nutrition and health, but what is the truth and what can you do to improve the health of your patients? Learn more about nutrition and how our diet profoundly impacts our current and future health. This course addresses the relationship between nutrition and human health, with a focus on health problems related to overnutrition. In this course, Professor Sander Kersten from Wageningen University & Research will explain about the composition of the three macronutrients: carbohydrates, fat and protein. You will learn about their role in the body (how they are absorbed, stored and metabolized for energy) and their impact on our health. Moreover, this course will cover energy homeostasis and the regulation of body weight. You will learn about overweight and obesity and strategies to improve and combat these problems of overnutrition. Finally, the course will make you familiar with nutritional research and research methodologies. This course is especially useful for health care professionals and people working in the food industry with a non-nutrition background. You will develop a critical mindset by learning to better weigh and interpret information about food, nutrition and health. This course, is part of the Food, Nutrition and Health Professional Certificate Program of Wageningen University & Research. Did you already complete Nutrition and Health: Micronutrients and Malnutrition ? That is the other course in the Food, Nutrition and Health Professional Certificate Program. To explore other learning opportunities about nutrition, have a look at the courses: Food Risks Human Microbiome Nutrition and Cancer Nutrition, Heart Disease and Diabetes

Chemistry and biology are traditionally taught as separate subjects at the high school level, where students memorize fundamental scientific principles that are universally accepted. However, at the university level and in industry, we learn that science is not as simple as we once thought. We are constantly confronted by questions about the unknown and required to use creative, integrated approaches to solve these problems. By bringing together knowledge from multidisciplinary fields, we are empowered with the ability to generate new ideas. The goal of this course is to develop skills for generating new ideas at the interface between chemistry and biology by analyzing pioneering studies. When should I register? Registration will be open throughout the course.

Life on our planet is diverse. While we can easily recognize this in our everyday surroundings, an even more diverse world of life can be seen when we look under a microscope. This is the world of microorganisms. Microorganisms are everywhere, and although some are notorious for their roles in human disease, many play important roles in sustaining our global environment. Among the wide variety of microorganisms, here we will explore those that thrive in the most extreme environments, the extremophiles. In this course, we will discover how diverse life is on our planet and consider the basic principles that govern evolution. We will also learn how we can classify organisms. Following this, we will have a look at several examples of extreme environments, and introduce the microorganisms that thrive under these harsh conditions. We will lay emphasis on the thermophiles, extremophiles that grow at high temperatures and will study how proteins from thermophiles can maintain their structure and function at high temperatures.

Sexual reproduction can be defined as the sort of reproduction by which each organism arises from the fusion of two cells. This generally implies, with some exceptions, that each organism has two parents. This description might sound trivial it is however not at all. Before the appearance of sex, organisms reproduced solely by division. One cell divided into two cells, no partners, no fusion, just simple cell division. This simple cell division is still here. In fact, the trillions of cells that make up your body are all the descendants of a single cell that underwent several dozens of cell divisions. Surprisingly, most multicellular, as well as, many unicellular organisms reproduce by sex. We might take it thus for granted but this course will show you that it is a rather peculiar and enigmatic process. This course will provide you with the necessary tools to understand how sex works and to marvel at its mysteries. We will start by meeting the actors of this greatest drama in their native habitats, from ancient bacteria that live in thermal geysers in Yellowstone national park to the great mammals that roam the African savanna. We will also briefly discuss the history of life on earth and its contemporary state. The second unit defines the rules of the game explaining the mechanisms of heredity and evolution. The third unit focuses on meiosis, the fundamental and conserved molecular event that forms the basis of sex. And that might have led to the appearance of sex in the first place. We will also explain the fertility cycle and male and female germ cell development. The fourth unit describes the striking variability of sex determination throughout the animal kingdom. We will discuss the requirement for two genders and their considerable cost. Finally, we will dive in the gulf of Aqaba to meet organisms that are both male and female either at the same, or at different times. Sex requires cooperation between two individuals – a male and a female – that are in a basic conflict of interest. Furthermore, males and females compete among themselves. This complex network of cooperation and conflict forms the fascinating plot we will tell in the fifth unit that will discuss the patterns of reproduction and social behavior of different animals – corals, insects, spiders, fish, birds, and mammals. We will be intrigued to discover that the same basic conflict is resolved by a huge range of approaches, from altruistic behavior all the way to open warfare and infanticide. The sixth unit takes us to fertilization and beyond. Starting at an IVF clinic we follow embryonic development throughout the animal kingdom from insects to tadpoles and humans. The seventh unit is dedicated to flowering plants that made our world colorful, sweet-smelling and tasty and that produce almost all animal food.