Principles and Advances in Genetic Engineering

Objective

Have you ever wondered why, if and what our brain (and hence we) learns? What are the rules that govern the learning process? In this course starting from a set of initial experiments and studies that were done to understand these I will introduce and develop a formal theory of learning. In doing so the course will bring out the intricate connection that exists between the psychological process of learning, the structure and function of the brain. We will be studying how complex behaviours can be tracked down to molecules and the inner functions of the brain in the context of learning and memory. Simultaneously we will also be learning about how the information is stored, organized, and utilized in our brain. Towards the end we will compare how these rules have led to emergence of neural networks

Syllabus

Origin of memory studies, Substrates of memory, Brain and Behaviour, Memory and its classification, Memory consolidation, The standard model of memory consolidation. Learning and its classification, Contingency, Salience and Valence, Classical Conditioning, Pavlov’s Experiment: What it is and what it is not.? Rescorla’s experiment on contingency, Garcia and Koelling Experiments, Kamin’s Observations, Rescorla and Wagner Model of Learning, second order conditioning, Latent Inhibition, Reinforcement learning, Punishment learning, Positive and Negative reinforcement and Positive and negative punishments, Different types of scheduling and their implication in reinforcement learning, Cognitive vs Reflexive behaviour, Sign vs Goal directed behaviour, Rodent model of learning and memory, Molecular basis of memory, Contemporary research in the field of memory.