Syllabus, NBIO 140 Fall, 2016
MARDER, VOLEN 314. X63140.
MWTh 10:00 to 10:50G’Zang 122
Graduate TAs: Brian Cary ;
Roshan Nanu
Undergraduate TA: Dahlia Kushinsky
Textbook: Principles of Neurobiology (2016) Liqun Luo. This is available in numerous formats including hard bound, paperback, loose-leaf and eBook.
Course requirements: 2 midterms (100 pts each) and a final (200 pts). There will be 2 short writing assignments, each worth 25pts.
There will be problem sets and recitation sections led by the TAs to discuss these problem sets. Students are strongly encouraged to take advantage of the problems and TA sections because they will help in mastering the concepts of the course.
Unless students have a course conflict, they should attend special neuroscience-related seminars during the semester, as announced in class and/or on the syllabus. Most of these will be Tuesdays at noon. Attendance at least 2 research seminars during the semester will be required. There will be a question on the FINAL exam relevant to the seminars you attended during the semester.
THIS COURSE IS INTENDED FOR JUNIORS, SENIORS, 1st and 2nd YEAR GRADUATE STUDENTS who are interested in obtaining an introduction to the fundamental principles of neuroscience. IT IS NOT APPROPRIATE FOR FRESHMEN. Interested sophomores must speak personally with Professor Marder concerning the suitability of this course for them. Graduate students and seniors should note that more intensive discussion of some of the issues discussed in this course will be handled in NBio 148 which can be taken concurrently.
NOTE ON THE SYLLABUS: This syllabus is meant to give students a sense of what the course will cover. It is likely that some modifications of this syllabus will take place during the semester. Please get in the habit of regularly checking the website for updated versions.
TOPICS to be covered: structure of the nervous system, resting potentials, action potentials, ion channels, synaptic potentials, neurotransmitters, learning and memory, neurological and psychiatric disorders, motor control, vision, proprioception, pain processing, basics of pharmacology, reward and addiction, sleep
NOTES ON APPROPRIATE CONDUCT: Students are encouraged to study together and to work together on problem sets. Students are encouraged to critique each other’s papers before they are turned in. If a student has received help from someone else on a written assignment, that help should be formally acknowledged in the paper. For example, “I thank Joe My Friend for correcting my syntax and for helpful comments”. All material should be properly cited and attributed. Any papers found to be partially or totally plagiarized will be sent to the Dean’s office for disciplinary action. Any cases of suspected cheating during formal exams will be sent to the Dean’s office for disciplinary action.
If you are a student with a documented disability at Brandeis University and if you wish to request have a reasonable accommodation for this class, please see me (Professor Marder) immediately. Please keep in mind that reasonable accommodations are not made retroactively.
LEARNING GOALS and OBJECTIVES:
a)Students will obtain understanding of the basic principles of neuronal signaling in the nervous system. Students will appreciate the connections between insights from basic research to human neurological and psychiatric disorders.
b)Students will become accustomed to thinking quantitatively about membrane conductances in neuronal activity.
c)Students will learn to assess the accuracy with which scientific research is presented in the lay press, and will gain experience in writing about key scientific principles and findings.
WRITING ASSIGNMENT #1. 25 pts (must be under 600 words). Due SEPT 15 IN CLASS!
Each of you will know someone, either a friend or a family member, with a neurological or a psychiatric disorder. For one of these cases, please write a short essay addressing the following questions:
a)What is the diagnosed disorder?
b)How was it first discovered; what were the symptoms that led to the diagnosis?
c)What is the present treatment?
d)What is the prognosis for recovery, or for long-term outcomes?
e)As a budding neuroscientist, what would you most want to know to understand better what gives rise to this disorder? In terms of what you know now, what information is most missing?
For this assignment, you may use personal conversations for information. If you have privacy issues you can attribute your information to “family member” or some similar designation. If you draw on information from the WEB, you MUST cite the URL for the Web site and the date on which you accessed it. All other material should be properly cited in usual scientific citation format.
WRITING ASSIGNMENT #2. 25 pts (must be under 600 words). Due NOV 21 IN CLASS!
Find an article on some neuroscience-related topic published in the lay press, e.g. NY Times, Boston Globe, Newsweek, etc. Then hunt up the ACTUAL paper published in the scientific literature that led to the lay report, and evaluate the extent to which the lay account accurately portrayed the finding and its implications. Turn in a copy of both the lay account and the scientific paper with your paper.
TENTATIVE Course Schedule (may change over the semester)
1. Th Aug 25- Introduction to the Course. Cell biology of the Neuron. Chapter 1.1-1.6
2. M Aug 29-Ion channels and the resting potential. Chapter 2.5-2.7
3. W Aug 31-Measuring ion channels in cells; current voltage curves etcCh 2.8-2.14
4. Th Sept 1Voltage clamp, membrane time constants; The action potential. Ch 2.8- 2.14; 13.20-13.21
5. W Sept 7- Guest Lecture CHRIS MILLER Structure and function of ion channels Ch 2.15-2.16
6. Th Sept 8- Guest Lecture CHRIS MILLER Structure and function of ion channels Ch 2.15-2.16
7. M Sept 12- The propagation of the action potential; myelin diseases and periodic paralysesch 2.13
8. W Sept 14- neuronal oscillators and other voltage-gated ion channelsBox 2.4
9. Th Sept 15diverse patterns of electrical excitability continued class notes
10. M Sept 19Electrical coupling and start of chemical synaptic transmissionch 1.7 Box 3.5
11. W Sept 21Synaptic transmissionch 3.12-3.16
12. Th Sept 22 Chemical Synapses ch 3.17;
13. M Sept 26 Release of transmitter and quantal transmissionch 3.1-3.10
14. W Sept 28 MIDTERM 1 evening exam
15. Th Sept 29- Release of transmitter and quantal transmissionch 3.1-3.10
16. W Oct 5Neuromodulationch 3.11; 3.18-3.23
17. Th Oct 6Glutamate receptors; Hippocampus and LTPch 3.15; ch 10.1-10.14
18. M Oct 10Aplysia, habituation, sensitization ch 10.15-10.16
19. Th Oct 13learning continued ch.Ch 10
20. W Oct 19Motor 1:Central Pattern Generators, Pyloric Rhythm ch 8.1-8.11
21. Th Oct 20Motor 2Spinal Cord Organization and reflexes ch 8.1.-8.11
22. Tues Oct 25Voluntary movement, Dopamine and Parkinson’sch 8.1-8.11; ch 11.10-11.13
23. W Oct 26Somatosensory Neurons, Opiate Peptides and Pain Processing p. 255-256. Ch 6.29-6.35
24. Th Oct 27Descending control of painch 6.34
25. M Oct 31Theories of addiction ch 11.18
26. W Nov 2Auditory Processing ch 6.22-6.28
27. Th Nov 3 MIDTERM 2 EVENING EXAM
28. M Nov 7 Alzheimer’s ch 11.1-11.7
29. W Nov 9ALS, Huntington’s and triplet repeats ch 11.9
30. Th Nov 10Autonomic and brain stem control ch 8.12-8.18
31. M Nov 14- Guest LectureMichael RosbashCircadian Rhythms ch 8.19-8.21
32. W Nov 16- Guest Lecture Leslie Griffith Sleepch 8.22-8.24
33. Th Nov 17- Guest Lecture TBD
34. M Nov 21Vision 1- phototransduction and the retina 4.1-4.20
35. M Nov 28Vision 2- thalamus and cortex 4.21-4.29
36. W Nov 30Vision 3- critical periods and developmentch 5.1- 5.7
37. Th Dec 1Vision 4- critical periods and developmentch 5.8-5.15
38. M Dec 5Mental illnessch 11.14-11.17
39. W Dec 7Epilepsych 11.27
FINAL: DEC 19