Neuroscience

Abstract

Introduction to Learning and Memory. 100 Units. This course examines basic questions in learning and memory. We discuss the historical separation and division of these two areas as well as the paradigmatic differences in studying learning and memory. We also discuss basic research methods for investigating learning and memory and survey established and recent research findings, as well as consider several different kinds of models and theories of learning and memory. Topics include skill acquisition, perceptual learning, statistical learning, working memory, implicit memory, semantic vs. episodic memory, and memory disorders. This course examines the biology of pain and the mechanisms by which anesthetics alter the perception of pain. The approach is to examine the anatomy of pain pathways both centrally and peripherally, and to define electrophysiological, biophysical, and biochemical explanations underlying the action of general and local anesthetics. We discuss the role of opiates and enkephalins. Central theories of anesthesia, including the relevance of sleep proteins, are also examined. 20200 and neurobiology physiology of Selected Circuits. The course will provide an introduction to the anatomy and function of specific brain circuits. Students will participate in the dissection of human and sheep brains to uncover and describe gross-anatomical connectivity patterns of brain areas involved in cognition, learning, emotion, and movement control. We will use histological and microscopic techniques to visualize and describe circuits and specific types of neurons within these circuits. The course will further introduce students to the latest EM/histological reconstruction techniques. of primary literature. Lecture topics cover membrane electrical phenomena that lead to release of neurotransmitter presynaptically, as well as the physilogical consequences of postsynaptic receptor activation. controlling various of and