Fundamentals of Neuroscience I

4 credits · Graduate School

This is the first part of a 2-semester course required for all Neuroscience graduate students. Parts I and II can be taken individually as electives for medical students and graduate students in other programs. The goal is for students to learn the general organization of the nervous system and its circuitry and understand the fundamental molecular and cellular bases underlying its development and function in normal and pathological conditions. In addition, the students learn how the cellular systems in the brain relate to the major branches of cognitive neuroscience. There are 3 themes that will be woven into the course to provide a continuum from molecules to cognition and disease: sensory systems, motor systems and memory. 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. Part I (NURO 8345) will emphasize the cellular and molecular aspects of neuroscience. Part II (NURO 8340) will emphasize systems in the brain and principles of cognition. Prerequisite: Undergraduate coursework in cell biology or biochemistry or permission of the course directors. SPRING [4].