Sensory Systems

3 Credits · Level: Graduate, Undergraduate

BIOL 5800 is a course designed to investigate the sensory systems: olfaction, vision, somatosensation, audition, vestibular function, and gustation. Each sensory system will be addressed and will include: the cells that compose each pathway, the molecules underlying cellular function and development, the flow of information, plasticity within the processing stream, and the potential for renewal within each sense. This is a research-based course and there will be little in the way of rote memorization. The course will consist of short introduction of the framework of sensory systems followed by interactive analyses of primary literature on each topic. Students will participate in dissecting current and historical papers and building their own sense of scientific inquiry around sensory systems.