Learning Outcomes: 1. Identify the major anatomical parts of a neuron and summarize their functions
Audience: Both Grad & Undergrad

2. Name the major classes of voltage-gated ion channels responsible for the resting potential and action potential. Describe their functional roles in generating those potentials, with respect to concepts such as voltage-dependence, activation, inactivation and propagation. Identify the structural motifs in these proteins that permit their function
Audience: Both Grad & Undergrad

3. Summarize the sequence of events in the presynaptic terminal that lead from depolarization to neurotransmitter release, including the role of calcium. Explain the quantal hypothesis of neurotransmitter release and the experimental evidence that supports it. Describe the exocytosis/endocytosis cycle
Audience: Both Grad & Undergrad

4. Summarize basic principles of ligand/receptor interactions. Interpret the meaning of quantities such as the dissociation constant (Kd) and the maximum response (Vmax). Explain the experimental evidence that led to the equations (e.g., Hill Equation) that describe these principles
Audience: Both Grad & Undergrad

5. Name the major classes of ligand-gated ion channels that support fast synaptic transmission and differentiate their functions with respect to excitation versus inhibition. Identify the structural motifs in these proteins that permit their specific functions. Solve equations that describe the behavior of simple chemical and electrical systems as a function of time
Audience: Both Grad & Undergrad

6. Explain what second messengers and signaling cascades are and how they participate in regulating neuronal function. Describe the major processes leading from DNA to RNA to the production of proteins and explain how these processes are regulated with respect to the structure of chromatin and the action of transcriptional activators and repressors
Audience: Both Grad & Undergrad

7. Define the concept of sensory transduction. Describe the key components of transduction and their interactions in the following systems: vision, olfaction, touch and hearing. Explain how sensory cells can be "tuned" to respond to specific aspects of a stimulus (e.g., color, frequency, etc)
Audience: Both Grad & Undergrad

8. Summarize key concepts, methods and results from primary research articles. Integrate information from these articles to explain how authors reached their conclusions. Judge the strengths and limitations of the methods, the data and the conclusions
Audience: Both Grad & Undergrad

9. Discuss strengths and limitations of existing experimental methods, to address currently open questions in neuroscience. Propose novel approaches, that may overcome existing limitations, to address currently open questions
Audience: Graduate

10. Synthesize concepts from different parts of the course into a cohesive integration of cellular and molecular neural function and communication. One example would be being able to list numerous points of failure in DNA, transcription, translation or postranslational modification of several different proteins that would all converge to produce similar or identical disease phenotypes
Audience: Graduate

Learning Outcomes: 1. Describe the organization and structure of mammalian nervous system, including the spinal cord, brainstem, thalamus, cerebral cortex, cerebellum, basal ganglia, limbic system, and their interconnections on a systems leve
Audience: Both Grad & Undergrad

2. Demonstrate a solid understanding of the functions of the sensory and motor systems that underlie perception and action
Audience: Both Grad & Undergrad

3. Demonstrate a solid understanding of higher brain functions and behavior, including learning and memory and executive function
Audience: Both Grad & Undergrad

4. Demonstrate knowledge about approaches of modern neuroscience research including neuroanatomy, neurophysiology, functional brain imaging, behavioral assays, and quantitative data analysis methods
Audience: Both Grad & Undergrad

5. Develop and apply critical thinking to evaluate original neuroscience research
Audience: Graduate

6. Develop ability to formulate hypotheses and to apply knowledge learned from the course to design experiments for hypothesis testing
Audience: Graduate

Learning Outcomes: 1. Describe how the neural activity at the synapse which occurs during a memory-inducing event (a memorable event) leads to the ability to recall that event, when the animal or person does recall that event, either spontaneously or by prompting.
Audience: Both Grad & Undergrad

2. Apply a variety of biological techniques to understand the biochemical processes that are involved in memory. Learn the principles of these advanced techniqes and apply them appropriately to work out mechanisms.
Audience: Both Grad & Undergrad

3. Formulate why alterations in synaptic strength between neurons in an autoassociative network lead to the ability to recall an event which involved the activation of neurons in that network. This is the concept of pattern completion, which is the core of memory formation and is an incredibly important overall concept.
Audience: Both Grad & Undergrad

4. Succinctly present research proposals that are students' extensions of work that has been published, including a strong component of originality on the part of the student.
Audience: Both Grad & Undergrad

5. Formulate the basics of synaptic transmission mechanisms including presynaptic release of neurotransmitter and effects of neurotransmitter interactions with the post synaptic membrane on biochemistry and electrophysiology of the dendritic spine. These include unique properties of the dendritic spine including anatomy,biochemical composition.
Audience: Both Grad & Undergrad

6. Formulate the concept of neural plasticity, the strengthening and weakening of transmission between presynaptic terminals and post synaptic dendritic spines. The realization that this occurs as the result of interaction between a large number of proteins. Describe the structure of the synapse in detail that includes the roles played by structural proteins and protein kinases and phosphatases in affecting synaptic strength.
Audience: Both Grad & Undergrad

7. Describe the application of the use of advanced optical approaches such as FRET (fluorescence resonance energy transfer) and several others. Formulate how they reveal detailed information about the movements and alterations in properties of the key macromolecules that comprise the synaptic region. Formulate how information is derived from these measurements to explain events of synaptic plasticity.
Audience: Both Grad & Undergrad

8. Formulate an approach using one or more of these techniques to answer an unresolved question regarding the mechanisms of plasticity.
Audience: Graduate

Learning Outcomes: 1. Explain the basic functioning of a neuron in biophysical terms (including how action potentials are generated, the role of dendrites, and postsynaptic integration).
Audience: Both Grad & Undergrad

2. Summarize the computational properties of sensory neurons reacting to sensory stimuli (tuning curves, receptive fields, feature selectivity).
Audience: Both Grad & Undergrad

3. Demonstrate technical familiarity in evaluating the statistical and information theoretical properties of neuronal activity (basics of signal detection theory, spike train statistics, firing rate models, PCA/ICA analysis).
Audience: Both Grad & Undergrad

4. Name various types of neural circuit models and their areas of application.
Audience: Both Grad & Undergrad

5. List the main differences between artificial neural networks as developed in computer science and computational models of biological neural networks.
Audience: Both Grad & Undergrad

6. Demonstrate how to characterize the dynamical properties of neurons and neural networks.
Audience: Both Grad & Undergrad

7. Summarize the hierarchical organization of the brain in computational terms (canonical microcircuit, mini-columns, functional brain networks).
Audience: Both Grad & Undergrad

8. Distinguish between anatomical, functional, and effective cortical connectivity.
Audience: Both Grad & Undergrad

9. Summarize main theoretical approaches to understanding brain functioning (graph theory, dynamical systems, information processing, decoding, whole-brain computational models).
Audience: Both Grad & Undergrad

10. Run and adapt MATLAB scripts for building and simulating neural models.
Audience: Both Grad & Undergrad

11. Evaluate and critique the assumptions and limitations of different computational models and approaches to address currently open questions in neuroscience.
Audience: Graduate

12. Summarize key concepts, methods, and results from primary research articles. Integrate information from these articles to explain how authors reached their conclusions. Judge the strengths and limitations of the methods, the data, and the conclusions.
Audience: Graduate

13. Run and evaluate a self-designed computational model of a biological neural circuit synthesizing concepts from different parts of the course based on computer labs.
Audience: Graduate

Learning Outcomes: 1. Identify how behaviors and their underlying neural substrates have evolved in response to specific environmental conditions
Audience: Both Grad & Undergrad

2. Discuss and explore the primary literature on the neuroendocrine underpinnings of behavior spanning from feeding to sex differences in complex social behaviors
Audience: Both Grad & Undergrad

3. Identify and discuss hormones, the brain, and environmental factors as they relate to behavioral evolution and biological diversity
Audience: Both Grad & Undergrad

4. Develop and apply critical thinking to evaluate neuroendocrinological research
Audience: Graduate

5. Communicate effectively about concepts, theories and approaches of neuroendocrinology and behavioral research
Audience: Graduate

Learning Outcomes: 1. Apply, analyze, or evaluate advanced theories, concepts, or methods in Neuroscience and Physiology, including but not limited to: ion channels, advanced cardiovascular physiology, advanced respiratory physiology, advanced endocrinology, membrane transport physiology and neurobiology
Audience: Both Grad & Undergrad

2. Identify and describe key theories, concepts, and methods in Physiology and Neuroscience, including but not limited to: ion channels, advanced cardiovascular physiology, advanced respiratory physiology, advanced endocrinology, membrane transport physiology and neurobiology and apply the knowledge gained to research in the field
Audience: Graduate

Learning Outcomes: 1. Apply concepts learned in coursework to real life situations
Audience: Undergraduate

2. Read and effectively search scientific literature
Audience: Undergraduate

3. Develop critical, analytical, and independent thinking skills
Audience: Undergraduate

Learning Outcomes: 1. Identify and summarize the main sensory and motor structures within the nervous system.
Audience: Graduate

2. Explain how elements in the nervous system interact to enable specific sensory and motor functions.
Audience: Graduate

3. Describe how pathology in specific neural pathways leads to particular clinical neurological signs and symptoms (e.g., ischemic stroke syndromes).
Audience: Graduate

4. Predict the location of damage in the nervous system based on symptoms and signs.
Audience: Graduate

Learning Outcomes: 1. Gain an extensive understanding of mechanisms of neural development
Audience: Graduate

2. Acquire the ability to critically analyze current studies in neural development
Audience: Graduate

Learning Outcomes: 1. Exhibit a broad understanding of general Neuroscience principles
Audience: Graduate

2. Conduct independent research using a variety of approaches
Audience: Graduate

3. Think critically to address research challenges
Audience: Graduate

4. Exhibit and foster professional and ethical conduct in their research
Audience: Graduate

5. Collaborate with other investigators within or outside the thesis lab
Audience: Graduate