Catalog description:
Principles of signal representation, interpretation and coordination within the vertebrate nervous system.Pre-requisites: GMS 6001 or consent of instructor.
Expanded course description:
The objective of this course is to provide students interested in the Neurosciences with a comprehensive overview of the principles underlying how the interactions among many neurons leads to useful behaviors. The primary teaching format will involve lectures. These lectures will be supplemented with discussions of papers and of questions that will be submitted by the students. There will be reading assignments from the assigned textbook that will be supplemented with review articles. Students will be required to submit two questions each week based on the lecture materials and their own interests in Neuroscience. Some of these questions will be selected for use during the weekly discussion groups and others may be selected and modified for use in the final course exam.This course is a 5-week advanced module, and represents the third course of a three-course sequence. This three-course sequence will cover the principles of neuroscience that are common to all sub-specialties of this broad discipline. The first course in this series focuses on the development and cell biology of the nervous system and the second course in the series focuses on signaling in the nervous system. There will be 4-5 contact hours per week for this course, including lectures and paper discussions.
Specific topics covered in this course:
A. Coordination in a Segmented Nervous System: the Sea Lamprey Spinal Cord
Central pattern generators
Coordination of central pattern generators to produce macroscopic behavior
Dynamic configuration of neuronal circuits
The role of sensory feedback
B. Feedback and Plasticity in Neural Control: the Vestibulo-Ocular Reflex
Systems analysis, block diagrams, and system equations
Correspondence between system blocks and neural structures
Using stimulus-response data with a model to determine the structure of a neuronal circuit.
Neuronal plasticity and the sites of plasticity
C. Central Integration and Maps
Cortical maps and cortical columns
Computational maps and bat echolocation.
Population coding and binding
Map plasticity; cholinergic and dopaminergic modulation
Evaluation of student performance: A final exam consisting of essay style questions will be given at the end of the course module. Grading will be based on satisfactory completion of assignments and the student’s performance on the exam. Final letter grades will be based on a class curve.
Faculty: Dr. Purvis Bedenbaugh will be the director of this course. He will be assisted by members of the Graduate Faculty of the College of Medicine in the presentation of material for this course.
Required textbook for this course:
Textbook: to be named. Primary literature articles will be assigned from journals such as Science, Nature, Cell and Neuron.