Instructor:

Dr. Brian P. Bergstrom

Office: SC 431

Office Hours: 9:00-10:00AM MWF & W 2:00-4:00PM

Room: SC 401, MWF 12:00-12:50PM, TH 8:00-10:50AM--Lab

Phone: 8225 Email: Brianb@muskingum.edu

Instructor Home page: http://fates.cns.muskingum.edu/~brianb/

Course website: http://muskingum.edu/~brianb/Neuroscience/Neuro.html

Course Objective:

The intent of this course is to provide students with an understanding of the principles of neurobiology. The brain is one of the last frontiers of science and unraveling its mysteries incorporates the following fields: biochemistry, cell biology, neurochemistry, physiology, pharmacology, biophysics, anatomy, psychology, and psychiatry. In general, this course will be taught from a human perspective, however, examples from other species may be utilized when appropriate. Upon successful completion of this course, students will have the foundations to understand the field of neuroscience. The laboratory portion of this course will have an emphasis on neurodevelopment and neuroanatomy.

Consider the following two quotes during your studies:

The brain is a monstrous, beautiful mess. Its billions of nerve cells - called neurons - lie in a tangled web that displays cognitive powers far exceeding any of the silicon machines we have built to mimic it.---- William F. Allman (from Apprentices of Wonder. Inside the Neural Network Revolution, 1989)

A knowledge of brain science will provide one of the major foundations of the new age to come. That knowledge will spawn cures for disease, new machines based on brain function, further insights into nature and how we know.----Gerald M. Edelman (from Neuroscience, Memory and the Brain, 1995)

Textbook: Neuroscience 4^th Edition, Purves et al., eds., Sinauer Assoc., Sunderland, MA.

Lecture/Exam Schedule

Week: Topic

8/27 Intros/Overview of Neurons & Signaling (Chpts. 1,2)

9/3 Electrical Signals of Neurons (Chpt. 2)

9/10 Voltage-dependant Membrane Permeability (Chpt. 3)

9/17 Permeabilitiy Cont., Channels and Transporters (Chpts. 3&4)

9/24 Channels & Transporters cont. (Chpt. 4 )

9/28 Exam 1

10/1 Synaptic Trans., Neurotransmitters (Chpts. 5& 6)

10/8 NT’s cont., Neurotransmitter Receptors & Their effects (Chpts. 6 & 7) (Lab Exam 1)

10/15 Fall Break—No Class Mon. Molecular signaling within neurons (Chpt. 7)

10/22 Construction of Neural Circuits (Chpt.23)

10/29 Const. Of Neural Circuits cont. Synaptic Plasticity (Chpts. 23 & 8)

11/2 Exam 2

11/5 Plasticity cont., Memory (Chpts. 8 & 31)

11/12 Memory Cont. (Chpt. 31), Neuropathologies

11/19 No class Wednesday-Friday-Thanksgiving, Neuropathologies cont.

11/26 Neuropathologies cont., Drugs of Abuse (Lab Exam 2)

12/3 The Chemical Senses (Chpt. 15)

12/14 Exam 3 12 noon

Grading:

Your final grade will be calculated from the lecture and laboratory portions of the course. There will be three lecture exams that will be equally weighted (20%). The exams will cover approximately one third of the course lecture material. The third exam will be taken during the week of final examinations. The laboratory will be worth 30% and will consist of the accumulation of a study guide/lab notebook and two lab exams. The remaining 10% will come from required independent written assignments.

Attendance Policy: At this point in your studies, it is your sole responsibility to come to the lecture and laboratory. Absences in a course of this stature are self-limiting on academic performance.

Note: This syllabus may be altered during the course of the semester at the discretion of the instructor.