In this lab course, a small number of students meet once per week to discuss topics in synaptic physiology and to become proficient at sharp electrode techniques for intracellular recording, using isolated ganglia from the snail Heliosoma. The first part of each class will consist of discussion of weekly reading from the primary literature, with the remainder of the class devoted to hands-on experiments. After learning to record from and characterize single neurons, students will study synaptic transmission by stimulating incoming nerve trunks or by recording from pairs of interconnected neurons. As a midterm assignment, students will prepare and present a short research proposal using this model system, to be evaluated by the class. For the last half of the course, the class will work together on one or two of these proposals, meeting at the end of each class to pool our data, analyze the results and discuss their significance.

This seminar will focus on the significant role of animal models in the investigation of the pathophysiology of a variety of human neuropsychiatric disorders as well as in the development of treatments for these disorders. The course will focus on the use of genetically modified mice in the investigation of Autistic Spectrum Disorders (ASD), anxiety and affective disorders, schizophrenia and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), with an emphasis on the limitations of such models. Class time will consist of short lectures and open discussions via student-led presentations. Emphasis will be placed on the critical analysis of primary literature.

In a world where humans can't seem to agree on much of anything, there is one thing that still unites us: we love music. Why should abstract sequences of sounds give us such strong emotional reactions? Why indeed should they give us any emotional reaction at all? On every continent, today and throughout history, there is not a single human culture that has ever been described that does not make music. Within cultures, music is so ubiquitous that we actually have clinical terms (amusia and musical anhedonia) to describe people who don't understand or don't enjoy music. And yet, despite this ubiquity, the evolutionary origin and purpose of music remains unknown. Not only do people everywhere make music - they do so in fundamentally similar ways. All over the world people divide rhythm into twos and threes; all over the world people divide the frequency spectrum logarithmically, in octaves; with a very few exceptions, we divide octaves into no more than 12 steps, and we use subsets of 5-7 of these tones at a time. Not only that, but many cultures seem to have independently arrived at the same sets of 5-7 notes. These are probably not coincidences. If not coincidence, then what? In this course we look for explanations to these and other questions about music by looking at something that humans all over the globe have in common: the brain. Using readings from the primary literature and classic texts, supplemented with software exercises and analysis, we will see how many of the age-old mysteries and questions of music can be either answered or in some cases amplified by a consideration of brain mechanisms. Thinking about music in the context of brain function also provides a biological and evolutionary rationale not just for why music is the way it is, but why it should exist at all. More broadly, this course is an example of what can (and cannot) be accomplished by addressing aesthetic and philosophical questions as scientific and empirical ones. Prerequisite: NRSC 1110 and prior musical instruction, any instrument.

This course focuses on the current state of our knowledge about the neurobiological basis of learning and memory. A combination of lectures and student seminars will explore the molecular and cellular basis of learning in invertebrates and vertebrates from a behavioral and neural perspective.

Both clinical observations and popular culture support the idea that food might have addictive properties. Similar to the narrative for addictive drugs,individuals and the media use terms like "food addict" and "chocoholic", and refer to cravings, symptoms of withdrawal, and escalating patterns of eating that might be viewed as evidence of tolerance. The class will discuss chocolate and coffee as examples of so-called "addictive" food and compare their effects and mechanisms with those of alcohol and nicotine, two substances with well-characterzed addictive properties. Furthermore, we will discuss why some forms of overeating are thought to reflect an addictive behavior. Considering the social dimension of alcohol,coffee, and tobacco consumption and the fact that large numbers of the population consume them together, we will also discuss the possible interactive effects of combinationsof these psychoactive substances on mood and disease state. At the end of the course the student will become familiar with the diagnostic criteria for substance dependence, the anatomy and physiology of the brain circuits involvedin reward processing and drug depencence, and the neurotransmitter systems involved.

Microtubules are dynamic cytoskeletal filaments that are crucial to the structure and function of neurons. From providing the scaffolding for the unique architecture of neurons, to guiding intracellular trafficking, to supporting neuronal migration and connectivity, microtubules are important for a variety of neuronal roles. Consequentially, the dysfunction of microtubules and microtubule-associated-proteins is associated with a number of nervous system disorders. This seminar will explore the role of microtubules in a number of neurobiological diseases and disorders including Neurodevelopmental disorders (ex. Fragile X, Lissencephaly), Neurodegenerative Disorders (ex. Alzheimer's and the Tauopathies, Hereditary Spastic Paraplegia), Psychiatric Disorders (Ex. Schizophrenia and Mood disorders), and also in Traumatic Brain Injury. We will use readings from the primary literature as a basis for lectures, student presentations, and papers.

This course will focus on the molecular basis of neurological diseases, exploring in detail key papers that cover topics including defining the disease genes, development of animal models that provide mechanistic insight, and seminal findings that reveal molecular understanding. Diseases covered will include neurological diseases of great focus today such as Alzheimer's, Fragile-X and autism, dementia, motor neuron degeneration, and microsatellite repeat expansion disorders. The course will provide a perspective from initial molecular determination through current status. Students will gain an understanding of how the molecular basis of a disease is discovered (from classical genetics to modern genomics) and how such diseases can be modeled in simple genetic systems for mechanistic insight. The course will be comprised of lectures with detailed analysis of primary literature and in-class activities. Grading will be based on class participation, exams, and written papers. Biology 2210 is a pre-requisite. Seniors are prioritized for the course

This discussion-based seminar will focus on the neural bases of cognitive development.
Each week the class will discuss a selection of papers that consider the roles of genes and environment on topics including the development of perceptual abilities, language, and cognition. The course will cover several aspects of pre- and postnatal brain and behavioral development with particular emphasis on animal models. This course is intended for students interested in neurobiology, cognitive psychology, evolutionary psychology and development.

A laboratory course designed to familiarize the student with the fundamental gross and histological organization of the brain. The mammalian brain will be dissected and its microscopic anatomy examined using standard slide sets. Comparative brain material will be introduced, where appropriate, to demonstrate basic structural-functional correlations.

This course will focus on cellular and molecular mechanisms of the organogenesis of the central nervous system. A goal of the course will be to understand the form, function and pathology of the adult nervous system in terms of antecedent developmental processes.