Advanced Neuroscience I

(3 Credit Hours) · Undergraduate

This interdisciplinary unit exposes students to the recent findings and emerging ideas in key areas of modern neuroscience. It covers (1) electrophysiology of neurones and glia; (2) synaptic anatomy and physiology, with reference to electrical, chemical and anatomical substrates of functional plasticity, learning and memory; (3) sensory mechanisms, encompassing the membrane biophysics of different types of receptor cells and the mechanisms of sensory encoding and signal processing, both peripherally and centrally; (4) growth and development of the mammalian nervous system, with particular attention to the mechanisms specifying cell lineage, cell number, differentiation, axon growth and the formation of appropriate synaptic connections; (5) selected aspects of integrative function of the brain including movement control, regulation of cortical excitability and higher cognitive functions; and (6) ageing and regeneration in the central nervous system—will functional repair be possible in the twenty-first century and what might be achieved with the use of neural prostheses?