Graduate Courses

Term Schedule

Fall 2023

Number	Title	Instructor	Time
BCSC 435-1 Natural Language Processing Hangfeng He MW 4:50PM - 6:05PM
This course addresses issues of representing computing meaning from natural language, especially issues of understanding language in context using commonsense knowledge of the world. Topics will include a survey of English phrase structure and parsing, semantic representation (e.g., events, semantic roles, time, causality and speech acts), and theories and techniques for understanding language in context, including intention recognition, text understanding using knowledge of scripts and plans, and models of spoken dialogue systems (e.g., conversational agents such as Siri). CSC447, the graduate level version of the course, requires a substantial individual project. Prerequisite: CSC 242 Location Computer Studies Room 209 (MW 4:50PM - 6:05PM)
BCSC 505-1 Perception, action, and neural foundations Gregory DeAngelis R 1:00PM - 3:30PM
This team-taught course will provide an interdisciplinary introduction to sensory perception, interplay between action and perception, as well as their basic neural foundations. Topics to be covered include: fundamentals of perceptual detection and discrimination, eye movements, visual perception of form, motion, and depth, haptic perception, basics of neural coding, multisensory processing, and attention. Location Meliora Room 301B (R 1:00PM - 3:30PM)
BCSC 528-1 Special Topics in Vision Duje Tadin 7:00PM - 7:00PM
Advanced graduate seminar on a chose problem in vision sciences. In previous years, topics have included motion perception, stereopsis, color vision and visuo-motor control. Readings for the course are drawn from the scientific literature in the topic being covered. Students are typically required to lead discussions on papers. Location Meliora Room 301B ( 7:00PM - 7:00PM)
BCSC 541-1 Neurons, Circuits, & Systems Farran Briggs TR 9:40AM - 10:55AM
This course takes a bottom-up approach to understanding the neurons and circuits of the sensory systems in the mammalian brain. Thematic topics will include: structural and functional diversity among sensory neuronal populations, common themes across sensory systems such as parallel information processing, coordination among feedforward/feedback circuits, and neuronal plasticity during development of functional domains. The final course module will focus on exploring the neuronal mechanisms of attention, again from a neuron- and circuit-centric perspective. Visual, auditory, and somatosensory systems will be discussed with most emphasis on the visual system as a model for understanding structure/function relationships. The course will also introduce students to modern methodological approaches in systems neuroscience aimed at measuring and manipulating the activity of large populations of neurons while also incorporating information about individual neuronal identity, structure, and circuit connectivity. Prerequisite: BCSC 240/NSCI 201 Location Meliora Room 205 (TR 9:40AM - 10:55AM)
BCSC 541-2 Neurons, Circuits, & Systems Farran Briggs T 11:00AM - 12:00PM
This course takes a bottom-up approach to understanding the neurons and circuits of the sensory systems in the mammalian brain. Thematic topics will include: structural and functional diversity among sensory neuronal populations, common themes across sensory systems such as parallel information processing, coordination among feedforward/feedback circuits, and neuronal plasticity during development of functional domains. The final course module will focus on exploring the neuronal mechanisms of attention, again from a neuron- and circuit-centric perspective. Visual, auditory, and somatosensory systems will be discussed with most emphasis on the visual system as a model for understanding structure/function relationships. The course will also introduce students to modern methodological approaches in systems neuroscience aimed at measuring and manipulating the activity of large populations of neurons while also incorporating information about individual neuronal identity, structure, and circuit connectivity. Prerequisite: BCSC 240/NSCI 201 Location Meliora Room 324 (T 11:00AM - 12:00PM)
BCSC 541-3 Neurons, Circuits, & Systems Farran Briggs T 3:00PM - 4:00PM
This course takes a bottom-up approach to understanding the neurons and circuits of the sensory systems in the mammalian brain. Thematic topics will include: structural and functional diversity among sensory neuronal populations, common themes across sensory systems such as parallel information processing, coordination among feedforward/feedback circuits, and neuronal plasticity during development of functional domains. The final course module will focus on exploring the neuronal mechanisms of attention, again from a neuron- and circuit-centric perspective. Visual, auditory, and somatosensory systems will be discussed with most emphasis on the visual system as a model for understanding structure/function relationships. The course will also introduce students to modern methodological approaches in systems neuroscience aimed at measuring and manipulating the activity of large populations of neurons while also incorporating information about individual neuronal identity, structure, and circuit connectivity. Prerequisite: BCSC 240/NSCI 201 Location Meliora Room 324 (T 3:00PM - 4:00PM)
BCSC 541-4 Neurons, Circuits, & Systems Farran Briggs T 4:00PM - 5:00PM
This course takes a bottom-up approach to understanding the neurons and circuits of the sensory systems in the mammalian brain. Thematic topics will include: structural and functional diversity among sensory neuronal populations, common themes across sensory systems such as parallel information processing, coordination among feedforward/feedback circuits, and neuronal plasticity during development of functional domains. The final course module will focus on exploring the neuronal mechanisms of attention, again from a neuron- and circuit-centric perspective. Visual, auditory, and somatosensory systems will be discussed with most emphasis on the visual system as a model for understanding structure/function relationships. The course will also introduce students to modern methodological approaches in systems neuroscience aimed at measuring and manipulating the activity of large populations of neurons while also incorporating information about individual neuronal identity, structure, and circuit connectivity. Prerequisite: BCSC 240/NSCI 201 Location Meliora Room 324 (T 4:00PM - 5:00PM)
BCSC 541-5 Neurons, Circuits, & Systems Farran Briggs T 5:00PM - 6:00PM
This course takes a bottom-up approach to understanding the neurons and circuits of the sensory systems in the mammalian brain. Thematic topics will include: structural and functional diversity among sensory neuronal populations, common themes across sensory systems such as parallel information processing, coordination among feedforward/feedback circuits, and neuronal plasticity during development of functional domains. The final course module will focus on exploring the neuronal mechanisms of attention, again from a neuron- and circuit-centric perspective. Visual, auditory, and somatosensory systems will be discussed with most emphasis on the visual system as a model for understanding structure/function relationships. The course will also introduce students to modern methodological approaches in systems neuroscience aimed at measuring and manipulating the activity of large populations of neurons while also incorporating information about individual neuronal identity, structure, and circuit connectivity. Prerequisite: BCSC 240/NSCI 201 Location Meliora Room 324 (T 5:00PM - 6:00PM)
BCSC 543-1 Neurochemical Foundations of Behavior Renee Miller MWF 10:25AM - 11:15AM
This class covers how the brain controls behavior, and what goes wrong in various diseases, from a neurochemistry perspective. We start by learning about the neurochemicals –neurotransmitters, peptides, growth factors, etc. and move on to their receptors and associated signaling pathways, including gene transcription and epigenetics. An emphasis is placed on primary research literature, experimentation/data analysis and application of knowledge to the interpretation of scientific data. Students will attend research seminars on campus or online and write brief summaries of their understanding. The course culminates in small group presentations about the neurochemistry of diseases of interest, and an individual research review paper on the same topic. Prerequisite: BCSC 240/NSCI 201. BIOL 250 is helpful but not required. Location Morey Room 502 (MWF 10:25AM - 11:15AM)
BCSC 570-1 Introduction to Augmented and Virtual Reality Mujdat Cetin MW 2:00PM - 3:15PM
This course provides a broad introduction to augmented and virtual reality (AR/VR) systems. The course involves lectures covering an overview of all aspects of the AR/VR domain, as well as individual work performed by each student aimed at providing more intensive training on various aspects of AR/VR. Topics covered in the lectures include history, conceptual origins, and design/evaluation principles of AR/VR technologies; overview of visual/auditory/haptic AR/VR interfaces and applications; visual perception; optics/platforms/sensors/displays; auditory perception and spatial audio; silicon hardware architecture and materials; graphics and computation; interfaces and user experience design; data processing and machine intelligence for AR/VR; introduction to AR/VR programming tools; societal implications and ethical aspects. At the end of the course, students will have gained familiarity with the techniques, languages, and cultures of fields integral to the convergent research theme of AR/VR. This course is co-instructed by Daniel Nikolov, Mujdat Cetin, Michele Rucci, Ross Maddox, Jannick Rolland, Yuhao Zhu, Andrew White, Chenliang Xu, Zhen Bai, and Zhiyao Duan. Location Goergen Hall Room 109 (MW 2:00PM - 3:15PM)
BCSC 572-1 Practicum in Augmented and Virtual Reality Mujdat Cetin TR 9:40AM - 10:55AM
This is the third course offered as part of the PhD training program on augmented and virtual reality (AR/VR). The goal of the course is to provide interdisciplinary collaborative project experience in AR/VR. The course involves small teams of students from multiple departments working together on semester-long projects on AR/VR with the guidance of one or more faculty involved in the PhD training program. The expected end products of this Practicum course are tangible artifacts that represent what the students have learned, discovered, or invented. Types of artifacts include research papers; patent applications; open-source software; as well as online tutorials and videos for undergraduates, K-12 students, or the general public. Prerequisites: ECE 410-1 or OPT 410-1 or BME 410-1 or BCSC 570-1 or NSCI 415-1 or CSC 413-1 or CVSC 534-1 Instructors: Lead - Mujdat Cetin; Zhen Bai, Jannick Rolland, Michele Rucci Location Computer Studies Room 426 (TR 9:40AM - 10:55AM)
BCSC 580-1 Advanced Topics in Cognitive Neuroscience Marius Iordan TR 3:25PM - 4:40PM
An interdisciplinary tour of human cognition with a special focus on large-scale neural representations in the human brain. Topics will include categorization, semantics, attention, memory, language, and cognitive control, with an emphasis on cutting-edge research that lies at the intersection of neuroscience, psychology, and computer science. The course will provide introductions to several neuroimaging (e.g., fMRI, MEG, EEG) and neural manipulation methodologies (e.g., TMS, tDCS, neurofeedback) and will involve discussions of advanced machine learning analysis techniques (multivariate pattern recognition algorithms, deep neural networks, Hidden Markov Models). Format: lectures and student-led seminar discussions. Location Bausch & Lomb Room 315 (TR 3:25PM - 4:40PM)
BCSC 595-01 PhD Research Ralf Haefner –
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BCSC 595-02 PhD Research Manuel Gomez-Ramirez –
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BCSC 595-03 PhD Research Duje Tadin –
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BCSC 595-04 PhD Research Robert Jacobs –
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BCSC 595-05 PhD Research Michele Rucci –
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BCSC 595-06 PhD Research Adam Snyder –
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BCSC 595-07 PhD Research Martina Poletti –
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BCSC 595-08 PhD Research Gregory DeAngelis –
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BCSC 595-11 PhD Research Karl Rosengren –
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BCSC 595-12 PhD Research Elise Piazza –
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BCSC 595-13 PhD Research Dora Biro –
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BCSC 595-14 PhD Research Ian Fiebelkorn –
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BCSC 595-15 PhD Research Marius Iordan –
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BCSC 598-07 Supervised Teaching Assistant Ralf Haefner –
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BCSC 598-1 Supervised Teaching Assistant Melinda Patterson –
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BCSC 598-14 Supervised Teaching Assistant Farran Briggs –
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BCSC 598-15 Supervised Teaching Assistant Karl Rosengren –
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BCSC 598-2 Supervised Teaching Assistant Duje Tadin –
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BCSC 598-3 Supervised Teaching Assistant Chung-Lin Yang –
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BCSC 598-4 Supervised Teaching Assistant Gregory DeAngelis –
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BCSC 598-5 Supervised Teaching Assistant Dora Biro –
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BCSC 598-6 Supervised Teaching Assistant Robert Jacobs –
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BCSC 897-01 Master's Dissertation Manuel Gomez-Ramirez –
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BCSC 897-1 Master's Dissertation Ralf Haefner –
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BCSC 986V-01 Full Time Visiting Student Michele Rucci –
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BCSC 995-1 Cont of Doctoral Enrollment Tim Jaeger –
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BCSC 997-1 Doctoral Dissertation Michele Rucci –
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BCSC 997-2 Doctoral Dissertation Duje Tadin –
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BCSC 999-01 Doctoral Dissertation Ralf Haefner –
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BCSC 999-02 Doctoral Dissertation Manuel Gomez-Ramirez –
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BCSC 999-03 Doctoral Dissertation Duje Tadin –
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BCSC 999-04 Doctoral Dissertation Robert Jacobs –
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BCSC 999-05 Doctoral Dissertation Michele Rucci –
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BCSC 999-06 Doctoral Dissertation Adam Snyder –
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BCSC 999-07 Doctoral Dissertation Martina Poletti –
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BCSC 999-08 Doctoral Dissertation Gregory DeAngelis –
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BCSC 999-09 Doctoral Dissertation Rajeev Raizada –
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BCSC 999-10 Doctoral Dissertation Tim Jaeger –
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BCSC 999-11 Doctoral Dissertation Jude Mitchell –
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Number	Title	Instructor	Time
Monday
Monday and Wednesday
BCSC 570-1 Introduction to Augmented and Virtual Reality Mujdat Cetin
This course provides a broad introduction to augmented and virtual reality (AR/VR) systems. The course involves lectures covering an overview of all aspects of the AR/VR domain, as well as individual work performed by each student aimed at providing more intensive training on various aspects of AR/VR. Topics covered in the lectures include history, conceptual origins, and design/evaluation principles of AR/VR technologies; overview of visual/auditory/haptic AR/VR interfaces and applications; visual perception; optics/platforms/sensors/displays; auditory perception and spatial audio; silicon hardware architecture and materials; graphics and computation; interfaces and user experience design; data processing and machine intelligence for AR/VR; introduction to AR/VR programming tools; societal implications and ethical aspects. At the end of the course, students will have gained familiarity with the techniques, languages, and cultures of fields integral to the convergent research theme of AR/VR. This course is co-instructed by Daniel Nikolov, Mujdat Cetin, Michele Rucci, Ross Maddox, Jannick Rolland, Yuhao Zhu, Andrew White, Chenliang Xu, Zhen Bai, and Zhiyao Duan.
BCSC 435-1 Natural Language Processing Hangfeng He
This course addresses issues of representing computing meaning from natural language, especially issues of understanding language in context using commonsense knowledge of the world. Topics will include a survey of English phrase structure and parsing, semantic representation (e.g., events, semantic roles, time, causality and speech acts), and theories and techniques for understanding language in context, including intention recognition, text understanding using knowledge of scripts and plans, and models of spoken dialogue systems (e.g., conversational agents such as Siri). CSC447, the graduate level version of the course, requires a substantial individual project. Prerequisite: CSC 242
Monday, Wednesday, and Friday
BCSC 543-1 Neurochemical Foundations of Behavior Renee Miller
This class covers how the brain controls behavior, and what goes wrong in various diseases, from a neurochemistry perspective. We start by learning about the neurochemicals –neurotransmitters, peptides, growth factors, etc. and move on to their receptors and associated signaling pathways, including gene transcription and epigenetics. An emphasis is placed on primary research literature, experimentation/data analysis and application of knowledge to the interpretation of scientific data. Students will attend research seminars on campus or online and write brief summaries of their understanding. The course culminates in small group presentations about the neurochemistry of diseases of interest, and an individual research review paper on the same topic. Prerequisite: BCSC 240/NSCI 201. BIOL 250 is helpful but not required.
Tuesday
BCSC 541-2 Neurons, Circuits, & Systems Farran Briggs
This course takes a bottom-up approach to understanding the neurons and circuits of the sensory systems in the mammalian brain. Thematic topics will include: structural and functional diversity among sensory neuronal populations, common themes across sensory systems such as parallel information processing, coordination among feedforward/feedback circuits, and neuronal plasticity during development of functional domains. The final course module will focus on exploring the neuronal mechanisms of attention, again from a neuron- and circuit-centric perspective. Visual, auditory, and somatosensory systems will be discussed with most emphasis on the visual system as a model for understanding structure/function relationships. The course will also introduce students to modern methodological approaches in systems neuroscience aimed at measuring and manipulating the activity of large populations of neurons while also incorporating information about individual neuronal identity, structure, and circuit connectivity. Prerequisite: BCSC 240/NSCI 201
BCSC 541-3 Neurons, Circuits, & Systems Farran Briggs
This course takes a bottom-up approach to understanding the neurons and circuits of the sensory systems in the mammalian brain. Thematic topics will include: structural and functional diversity among sensory neuronal populations, common themes across sensory systems such as parallel information processing, coordination among feedforward/feedback circuits, and neuronal plasticity during development of functional domains. The final course module will focus on exploring the neuronal mechanisms of attention, again from a neuron- and circuit-centric perspective. Visual, auditory, and somatosensory systems will be discussed with most emphasis on the visual system as a model for understanding structure/function relationships. The course will also introduce students to modern methodological approaches in systems neuroscience aimed at measuring and manipulating the activity of large populations of neurons while also incorporating information about individual neuronal identity, structure, and circuit connectivity. Prerequisite: BCSC 240/NSCI 201
BCSC 541-4 Neurons, Circuits, & Systems Farran Briggs
This course takes a bottom-up approach to understanding the neurons and circuits of the sensory systems in the mammalian brain. Thematic topics will include: structural and functional diversity among sensory neuronal populations, common themes across sensory systems such as parallel information processing, coordination among feedforward/feedback circuits, and neuronal plasticity during development of functional domains. The final course module will focus on exploring the neuronal mechanisms of attention, again from a neuron- and circuit-centric perspective. Visual, auditory, and somatosensory systems will be discussed with most emphasis on the visual system as a model for understanding structure/function relationships. The course will also introduce students to modern methodological approaches in systems neuroscience aimed at measuring and manipulating the activity of large populations of neurons while also incorporating information about individual neuronal identity, structure, and circuit connectivity. Prerequisite: BCSC 240/NSCI 201
BCSC 541-5 Neurons, Circuits, & Systems Farran Briggs
This course takes a bottom-up approach to understanding the neurons and circuits of the sensory systems in the mammalian brain. Thematic topics will include: structural and functional diversity among sensory neuronal populations, common themes across sensory systems such as parallel information processing, coordination among feedforward/feedback circuits, and neuronal plasticity during development of functional domains. The final course module will focus on exploring the neuronal mechanisms of attention, again from a neuron- and circuit-centric perspective. Visual, auditory, and somatosensory systems will be discussed with most emphasis on the visual system as a model for understanding structure/function relationships. The course will also introduce students to modern methodological approaches in systems neuroscience aimed at measuring and manipulating the activity of large populations of neurons while also incorporating information about individual neuronal identity, structure, and circuit connectivity. Prerequisite: BCSC 240/NSCI 201
Tuesday and Thursday
BCSC 541-1 Neurons, Circuits, & Systems Farran Briggs
This course takes a bottom-up approach to understanding the neurons and circuits of the sensory systems in the mammalian brain. Thematic topics will include: structural and functional diversity among sensory neuronal populations, common themes across sensory systems such as parallel information processing, coordination among feedforward/feedback circuits, and neuronal plasticity during development of functional domains. The final course module will focus on exploring the neuronal mechanisms of attention, again from a neuron- and circuit-centric perspective. Visual, auditory, and somatosensory systems will be discussed with most emphasis on the visual system as a model for understanding structure/function relationships. The course will also introduce students to modern methodological approaches in systems neuroscience aimed at measuring and manipulating the activity of large populations of neurons while also incorporating information about individual neuronal identity, structure, and circuit connectivity. Prerequisite: BCSC 240/NSCI 201
BCSC 572-1 Practicum in Augmented and Virtual Reality Mujdat Cetin
This is the third course offered as part of the PhD training program on augmented and virtual reality (AR/VR). The goal of the course is to provide interdisciplinary collaborative project experience in AR/VR. The course involves small teams of students from multiple departments working together on semester-long projects on AR/VR with the guidance of one or more faculty involved in the PhD training program. The expected end products of this Practicum course are tangible artifacts that represent what the students have learned, discovered, or invented. Types of artifacts include research papers; patent applications; open-source software; as well as online tutorials and videos for undergraduates, K-12 students, or the general public. Prerequisites: ECE 410-1 or OPT 410-1 or BME 410-1 or BCSC 570-1 or NSCI 415-1 or CSC 413-1 or CVSC 534-1 Instructors: Lead - Mujdat Cetin; Zhen Bai, Jannick Rolland, Michele Rucci
BCSC 580-1 Advanced Topics in Cognitive Neuroscience Marius Iordan
An interdisciplinary tour of human cognition with a special focus on large-scale neural representations in the human brain. Topics will include categorization, semantics, attention, memory, language, and cognitive control, with an emphasis on cutting-edge research that lies at the intersection of neuroscience, psychology, and computer science. The course will provide introductions to several neuroimaging (e.g., fMRI, MEG, EEG) and neural manipulation methodologies (e.g., TMS, tDCS, neurofeedback) and will involve discussions of advanced machine learning analysis techniques (multivariate pattern recognition algorithms, deep neural networks, Hidden Markov Models). Format: lectures and student-led seminar discussions.
Wednesday
Thursday
BCSC 505-1 Perception, action, and neural foundations Gregory DeAngelis
This team-taught course will provide an interdisciplinary introduction to sensory perception, interplay between action and perception, as well as their basic neural foundations. Topics to be covered include: fundamentals of perceptual detection and discrimination, eye movements, visual perception of form, motion, and depth, haptic perception, basics of neural coding, multisensory processing, and attention.
Friday