Neuroscience

Dr. Edward Saiff
Office G300B
Phone 201-684-7723

The focus of this course is to understand how the brain mediates behavior.  To do this we need to understand how the brain works, how it produces cognition.  We will look into five major areas of cognition:  perception, action, emotion, language, and memory.  So we have four objectives:

  1. To understand, on a physiological and biochemical level, neuronal communication.
  2. To learn the anatomy and general circuitry of the nervous system.
  3. To understand how the nervous system transduces sensory stimuli and controls motor activity.
  4. To understand how the brain carries out its “higher” functions, such as language, learning, and memory.
TEXT:  Principles of Neural Science (4th edition), 2000.  Kandel, E., J. Schwartz & T. Jessell.  McGraw-Hill.

GRADING:  There will be a mid-term and a final exam, as well as a term paper.  Each of these will count equally in the calculation of the course grade.
 
 

Introduction
The Brain and Behavior 
Nerve Cells and Behavior 
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Cell Biology of Signaling
Membrane Potential 
Synaptic Transmission 
Nerve Muscle Synapse - Directly Gated Transmission 
Synaptic Integration 
Modulation of Synaptic Integration - Second Messengers 
Transmitter Release 
Neurotransmitters 
Diseases of Chemical Transmission at Nerve Muscle Synapse - Myasthenia Gravis
Chapter 7
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Perception
 Coding of Sensory Information 
 Bodily Senses 
 Touch 
 Pain 
 Hearing 
 Sensory Transduction of the Ear 
 Smell and Taste 
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Motor Organization
 Organization of Movement 
 Motor Unit and Muscle Action
 Diseases of the Motor Unit 
 Locomotion 
 Voluntary Movement 
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Development of the Nervous System
 Induction and Patterning of the Nervous System 
 Generation and Survival of Nerve Cells 
 Guidance of Axons to their Targets 
 Formation and Regeneration of Synapses 
 Aging of the Brain and Alzheimer's Disease 
Chapter 52
Chapter 53
Chapter 54
Chapter 55
Chapter 58
High Mental Functions
 Sensory Experience and Fine-Tuning of Synaptic Connections 
 Sexual Differentiation of the Nervous System
 Learning and Memory 
 Cellular Mechanisms of Learning and the Biological Basis of Individuality 
Chapter 56
Chapter 57
Chapter 62
Chapter 63

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