Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience

4 credits · Graduate School

(Also listed as Molecular Physiology and Biophysics 8345, Neuroscience 8345, Pharmacology 8345) This course is a required entry-level course for students in the Cell and Molecular Track of the Neuroscience Graduate Program at Vanderbilt that should be taken in the first graduate school year. It also serves as an elective for medical students and graduate students in a number of other programs. Its goal is to expose students to fundamental concepts and techniques in molecular and cellular neuroscience and provide a theoretical context for experimental analysis of brain function and disease. The course is divided into three modules. Module I: Neural Anatomy and Development provides an overview of the anatomy of the nervous system and neurotransmitters and examines concepts in neural pattern formation, neuronal migration, axon guidance, and synapse formation. Module II. Signaling, Plasticity, and Modulation reviews biophysical and molecular concepts relating to neuronal membrane excitability, secretion, and plasticity. Module III: Neural Diseases and Disease Models focuses on specific brain disorders such as epilepsy, pain disorders, Alzheimer's disease, depression, and schizophrenia and current models used to investigate their origin and/or treatment. This course combines faculty lecture with discussion of original articles, with an emphasis on fundamental concepts and the elucidation of important research paradigms in the discipline. Faculty and assistants guide students through important research paradigms with a critical analysis of the primary literature in the topic area. Prerequisite: Bioregulation I (IGP 8001) or consent of instructor. Course directors may consider undergraduate course work in cell biology or biochemistry to meet this requirement. SPRING. [4] Currie, Carter, and Staff