Welcome to the brain. Welcome to brain excitement because you just came in a very unusual time for the brain with a lot of excitements all over the world because a huge amount of efforts and a lot of money is dedicated today with the unique big projects to try to understand the brain, its diseases. But, it's also the beautiful thing that it can do like memory, emotions, action, creativity, consciousness, all these things merged from this miraculous 1.5 kilogram. How does it happen? So, this course, Synapses, Neurons, and the Brain is really trying to explain to you what we know today about the brain. Starting from its miraculous, amazing elements the neurons, the nerve cells. It's a very beautiful element. A branched structure consisting of unusual capability, both to generate signals, electrical signals and chemical signals. Many of them stands for a particular code in the brain. So, the cell may fire [SOUND] some electrical activity, and this electrical activity will eventually stand for moving a hand, for talking, for feeling. But not the single cell, but many cells together. So, this one cell, one neuron, must connect to other neurons via synapses. So, we should have a specific lesson about synapse because this is a very, very beautiful connection that is changing during activity. That's how you learn. Through changes in the connection between cells. And then, there are huge networks, millions of networks. You know that in your brain, you have hundred billion of cells. And this hundred billion of cells, when they operate together, they give you a feeling of self. So, I'm now standing and talking to you, due to the activity of this hundred of billion of cells. You are listening to me, and learning through me, through this activity of hundred of billion of cells. Many, many million of cells stands for a face recognition, for movement of an arm, for a particular feeling, like love or anger, or memory of a particular memory. So, I'm going to talk to you about networks of neurons, and in particular, a new attempt to simulate networks of neurons via a project that is called the Blue Brain Project. There will be a whole lesson on showing how do we try to simulate, in the computer, the activity of a network, a big network, of neurons that are active together via these connections that are called synapses. Then, I invited a very prestigious, very successful, wonderful researchers from the Hebrew University, Professor Eli Nelken, Israel Nelken, will talk about perception and emotions in the brain. In particular, around music and auditory processing in the brain. And I will end this talk after starting with excitement, I will end by ending with what we don't understand. What is the future of brain research? There are, of course, many things we need to understand, but the fundamental things that are completely open is the notion of consciousness. What does it mean in terms of brain research, that I'm conscious or unconscious? This of course has a very, very important clinical implications. And I also will discuss, what can brain research say today about the notion of free will? So, I feel free that I came to teach you. You feel free that you decided to come and learn from me. So, we feel free. Are we free? What can the brain research say about freedom of choice? So, I will wrap this whole nine lectures with an enigma. Enigma of consciousness, enigma of free will. I'm very pleased to be able to give this course to you. I'm very happy that you will join this course. I think it will be a wonderful adventure both for you and for me. Thank you for coming. Shalom. And see you soon.
