Download Syllabus - Brandeis University

Syllabus, NBIO 140 Fall, 2016
MARDER, VOLEN 314. X63140.
MWTh 10:00 to 10:50 G’Zang 122
Graduate TAs: Brian Cary [email protected];
Roshan Nanu [email protected]
Undergraduate TA: Dahlia Kushinsky [email protected]
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 25 pts.
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)
b)
c)
d)
What is the diagnosed disorder?
How was it first discovered; what were the symptoms that led to the diagnosis?
What is the present treatment?
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 etc Ch 2.8-2.14
4. Th Sept 1 Voltage clamp, membrane time constants; The action potential. Ch 2.82.14; 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
paralyses ch 2.13
8. W Sept 14- neuronal oscillators and other voltage-gated ion channels Box 2.4
9. Th Sept 15 diverse patterns of electrical excitability continued class notes
10. M Sept 19 Electrical coupling and start of chemical synaptic transmission ch 1.7
Box 3.5
11. W Sept 21 Synaptic transmission ch 3.12-3.16
12. Th Sept 22 Chemical Synapses ch 3.17;
13. M Sept 26 Release of transmitter and quantal transmission ch 3.1-3.10
14. W Sept 28 MIDTERM 1 evening exam
15. Th Sept 29- Release of transmitter and quantal transmission ch 3.1-3.10
16. W Oct 5 Neuromodulation ch 3.11; 3.18-3.23
17. Th Oct 6 Glutamate receptors; Hippocampus and LTP ch 3.15; ch 10.1-10.14
18. M Oct 10 Aplysia, habituation, sensitization ch 10.15-10.16
19. Th Oct 13 learning continued ch. Ch 10
20. W Oct 19 Motor 1: Central Pattern Generators, Pyloric Rhythm ch 8.1-8.11
21. Th Oct 20 Motor 2 Spinal Cord Organization and reflexes ch 8.1.-8.11
22. Tues Oct 25 Voluntary movement, Dopamine and Parkinson’s ch 8.1-8.11; ch
11.10-11.13
23. W Oct 26 Somatosensory Neurons, Opiate Peptides and Pain Processing p. 255256. Ch 6.29-6.35
24. Th Oct 27 Descending control of pain ch 6.34
25. M Oct 31 Theories of addiction ch 11.18
26. W Nov 2 Auditory 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 9 ALS, Huntington’s and triplet repeats ch 11.9
30. Th Nov 10 Autonomic and brain stem control ch 8.12-8.18
31. M Nov 14- Guest Lecture Michael Rosbash Circadian Rhythms ch 8.19-8.21
32. W Nov 16- Guest Lecture Leslie Griffith Sleep ch 8.22-8.24
33. Th Nov 17- Guest Lecture TBD
34. M Nov 21 Vision 1- phototransduction and the retina 4.1-4.20
35. M Nov 28 Vision 2- thalamus and cortex 4.21-4.29
36. W Nov 30 Vision 3- critical periods and development ch 5.1- 5.7
37. Th Dec 1 Vision 4- critical periods and development ch 5.8-5.15
38. M Dec 5 Mental illness ch 11.14-11.17
39. W Dec 7 Epilepsy ch 11.27
FINAL: DEC 19