This interactive talk connects neuroscience and machine learning through the lens of survival: how the brain helps us make fast decisions — like whether to run from a tiger — and how computers are being taught to do the same.

Topics include:

  • How neurons work individually and in networks.

  • How the brain processes visual information and makes decisions.

  • How these ideas are modelled in machine learning, using perceptrons, activation functions, and neural networks.

  • Applications of machine learning, from image recognition to driving.

Materials

Slides

Machine Learning Slides

Machine Learning Slides

Worksheet

Machine Learning Worksheet

References

’t Hart, B. M., Achakulvisut, T., Adeyemi, A., Akrami, A., Alicea, B., Alonso‑Andres, A., … van Viegen, T. (2022). Neuromatch Academy: a 3‑week, online summer school in computational neuroscience. Journal of Open Source Education, 5(49), 118. https://doi.org/10.21105/jose.00118