Developmental Neuroscience: Experience Dependent Plasticity

(3 Credit Hours) · Undergraduate

This is an upper level NSBH biology elective that is also a community-based learning course. Through reading and discussion of primary literature, the developmental literature will offer students an opportunity to investigate and construct conceptual frameworks of the circuitry that underlies human species expectant experiences. Using the expectations of the developing nervous system as the guiding framework, class and community work will explore how individual experience becomes a powerful moderator of the nervous system function as we age. The community-based aspect of the course partners students with organizations that are engaged with the regional Self-Healing Communities Collective; a community-capacity building network that uses neuroscientific evidence to inform organizational and community strategies supporting neurobiological safety and resilience. Success in this course requires consistent time and engagement every week in class and can be well suited for students wishing to explore intersections of neuroscience, plasticity, health, behavior and well-being.