"If you look at the anatomy, the structure, the function, there's nothing in the universe that's more beautiful, that's more complex, than the human brain." - Keith Black, Discover Magazine, April, 2004 (http://discovermagazine.com/2004/apr/keith-black)

Brain Architecture Corey A. Spitzer Barcamp Omaha 2009

Disclaimer: I am a computer science grad student with a strong interest in neuroscience; NOT a doctor, biologist, etc.

Two Primary Types of Brain Cells Neurons Glia © 2007, Paul De Koninck. http://www.greenspine.ca/en/framed.html http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Gfapastr5.jpg

The Neuron Dendrites Axon Axon Terminals Nucleus http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Neuron-figure-notext.svg

Neural Networks

Otto Loewi and the Frog Hearts http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Neuron-figure-notext.svg

Otto Loewi and the Frog Hearts http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Heart_left_lateral_coronaries_diagram.svg

The Synapse axon terminal axon vesicles full of neurotransmitter ions receptors and ion channels dendrite spine

The Synapse axon terminal axon vesicles full of neurotransmitter ions receptors and ion channels dendrite spine

The Synapse axon terminal axon vesicles full of neurotransmitter ions receptors and ion channels dendrite spine

The Synapse axon terminal axon vesicles full of neurotransmitter ions receptors and ion channels dendrite spine

The Synapse axon terminal axon vesicles full of neurotransmitter ions receptors and ion channels dendrite spine

Kinds of Signals

Neural Circuits

Plasticity and Hebbian Learning

Putting it all Together

References and Sources

References and Sources

The End http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:MRI_head_side.jpg