Neuroscience

This course is a broad introduction to neuroscience including topics in comparative vertebrate and invertebrate neuroanatomy, neurophysiology, sensory and motor systems, behavioral neurobiology, neuropharmacology, and neural basis of cognition. Important general principles of nervous system structure and function will be emphasized, as well as broad scientific proficiency as a foundation for further interdisciplinary study of the neural basis of behavior.

How does the nervous system of an organism produce natural, adaptive behaviors? A bat emits ultrasonic sounds and then uses the echoes to map objects in the space around it. A toad detects a specific set of stimulus features to identify a fly as prey and executes a swift, precise predatory behavioral pattern. A species of migratory bird uses cues based on the earth's magnetic field to navigate over continental distances. In the natural world, animals exhibit elegant behaviors in response to relevant sensory phenomena. Neuroethology is the study of the neural mechanisms that serve these behaviors. Learning about these mechanisms in turn informs our understanding of how the human nervous system might produce complex behaviors. Students will be introduced to basic functional neuroanatomy of invertebrate and vertebrate systems, neurophysiology, and relevant topics in physics.

Neurons form complex networks that compute behaviorally relevant information for an organism. What are the principles from which these neural computations arise? How can computer simulations aid our conceptual understanding of ideas central to neuroscience, biology, psychology, and related fields? In this course, students will engage with basic principles of neural computation through a series of projects. The course will also introduce basic principles of programming and mathematical modeling relevant to understanding the function of the nervous system.

Behavioral Neuroendocrinology takes a comparative approach to animal behavior, with a special emphasis on the neuroendocrine system as a functional interface between an organism and its environment. The class will use theories and principles that apply to both proximate (physiological and developmental) and ultimate (evolutionary and functional) causes of behavior. Students will learn about the genetic, neural, and hormonal influences on behavior, including reproductive behaviors, aggression, social attachment, affiliation, parental care, and stress.

This seminar will explore important concepts in Neuroscience, beginning with philosophical and historical origins and including readings from contemporary primary literature. Students will be engaged in a series of group projects and an individual final project to delve into controversies and emerging ideas in the field. Course activities will require students to integrate their learning from previous coursework across multiple disciplines and draw upon their unique perspectives. This seminar is intended for 3rd and 4th year students pursuing focused programs of study in Neuroscience.

The human nervous system is composed primarily of two broad classes of cells: neurons and glial cells. Surprisingly, there are as many, or more, glial cells as there are neurons! In this class, we will examine the many roles that glial cells may play in health and disease. We will discuss the characteristics that are used to define cells as glia, explore the many ways in which glial cells help to maintain a stable and functional nervous system, examine the potential role of glial cells in a variety of diseases, and explore how glial cells may also be used to restore nervous system function. An emphasis will be placed on the cellular and molecular properties of glial cells and their interactions with neurons. Students will read and discuss a mixture of review and primary research papers on these topics.

This course is a practical introduction to human neuroscience research with an emphasis on electroencephalography (EEG). EEG measures changes in brain activity from electrodes placed on the surface of the scalp. The temporal precision of the EEG signal makes it ideally suited to study the timing and organization of cognitive processes that underlie both conscious and unconscious human behavior, including thoughts, perceptions, emotions, and actions. Additionally, EEG has several practical applications, such as its use in medicine and brain-computer interfaces. Through readings, discussion, and hands-on data analysis, students will gain familiarity with EEG methodology to study the neural basis of human cognition and behavior.

Social connections form the foundation of societies, nations, cultures, groups, and families. What are the biological mechanisms that promote such sociality? In this course, we will take a comparative approach to further understand the neurobiological basis of affiliative, and antagonistic, social behaviors. We will discuss primary research articles on the neural systems that facilitate social bonds, the sensory and cognitive specializations required for social interactions, the formation of in-groups vs out-groups, and the physiological costs and benefits of living in social groups.

In this course we will explore the remarkable diversity of sensory systems and brains in animals, from tiny insects to the awe-inspiring octopus. In this discussion-based, journal club-style seminar, we will read and analyze both classic and contemporary research articles, examining how advancements in technologyboth old and newhave uncovered the fascinating ways animals sense and navigate their environments.

Students may undertake an independent research project under the direction of a particular faculty member.

Neurogenomics is one of the fastest-growing areas of neuroscience, enabling researchers to ask big questions about brains and nervous systems using genome-scale data. With an explosion of publicly available transcriptomesincluding many non-model animalsstudents can do authentic discovery research by analyzing existing datasets.In this research-based course, students learn the core toolkit of neuroinformatics: finding and curating genes, running homology searches, building and interpreting gene trees, and analyzing bulk and single-cell transcriptomic data. Students apply these methods to comparative questions about glial cell-type genes across humans, mice, fishes, insects, molluscs, and other animals to map glial gene signatures and investigate conserved glial cell types.Because neurogenomics sits at the intersection of multiple disciplines, the course integrates concepts and skills from neuroscience, molecular biology and genetics, evolution, computer science, and statistics/data science. Students build practical computational skills (databases, command-line tools and/or notebooks, reproducible workflows, visualization, and interpretation) while contributing to open, comparative neurosciencegenerating new insights from existing datasets.