Courses

Nbio 301: will take students from the introductory Biology core courses (Biology 180,200,220) and introduce them to the concepts and techniques of cellular and molecular neurobiology. The material will range from single neuron physiological properties and development through the properties of simple synaptic connections between neurons. The course includes a laboratory component, in which students will be introduced to the techniques used to study nervous systems. Rather than teach students a new technique and have them do a simple, different experiment each week; the laboratory will teach 3 or 4 major techniques during the quarter, with students spending several weeks on each. This will allow students the ability to learn from their mistakes, to think in depth about each experiment, and to analyze and present the data they obtain. (Instructor: William J. Moody, Department of Biology).
Instructor: William J. Moody, Department of Biology

Nbio 302: will begin at the synapse level, move through properties of complex circuits of neurons, and end with animal behavior. This course also has a laboratory component, with the same general structure as Nbio 301.
Instructors: David Perkel, Department of Biology & James Canfield, Department of Psychology

Nbio 401: will emphasize the functional organization of the mammalian brain, using both an anatomical and physiological approach. It will cover the functional organization of the major sensory, motor and associative systems. The material will stress the anatomical and functional connectivity of these systems and also include behavioral data to lead students to a better understanding of how each system is integrated. The course will include lectures, a demonstration laboratory for gross brain anatomy, and computer neuroanatomy based on the "Brain Browser."
Instructor: Farrel R. Robinson, Department of Biological Structure.

Nbio 402: teaches students the basic physiological mechanisms used in the mammalian brain by studying specific neurological diseases of known etiology that affect those mechanisms. For the diseases noted in the outline, students will be exposed to the clinical consequences of molecular disease of the nervous system, but the primary objective are to use the abnormality as a focus of discussion of basic physiological mechanisms. Because there is not a textbook available in this field, the course will use primary literature and review articles.
Instructor: Wayne Crill, Department of Physiology & Biophysics.

Nbio 403: will cover the fundamental principles of neural circuits and systems, with special emphasis on the behavioral output and plasticity mediated by known neural circuits. Topics will include information processing by populations of neurons in sensory and motor systems, mechanisms for sensory-motor integration, modulatory and integrative interactions among neural circuits, plasticity, learning, and memory. Material will be presented from both an empirical and theoretical approach, using examples that are relevant to animal behavior.
Instructor: JeanSok Kim, Department of Psychology.

Nbio 404: will consider the actions of drugs on the brain at clinical, cellular, and molecular levels. Drugs acting on neurotransmitter metabolism, synaptic transmission, and electrical signaling will be studied. Therapeutic use of drugs in treatment of neurological and psychiatric diseases will be presented. Abuse of drugs and the underlying mechanisms of addiction, tolerance, and withdrawal will be discussed. Emphasis will be placed on understanding selected exemplar drug groups in depth from clinical use to molecular mechanisms.
Instructor: Nephi Stella, Department of Pharmacology.