Courses

Basic and Clinical Vision Sciences

Semesters Offered:
Fall

Instructors:
Paulo Kofuji, PhD
Linda Kirschen McLoon, PhD

This neuroscience course is a comprehensive introduction to the visual system, focusing on the structure and function of the visual system both in health and disease. Anatomical, cellular, physiological and behavioral aspects of visual neuroscience will be discussed. Topics that will be covered include: anatomy of the eye and orbit, development of the visual system, cornea and lens, glaucoma and aqueous humor, phototransduction, neural circuitry of the retina, glial function in the retina, central mechanisms of vision, psychophysics of vision, retinopathies and neurodegeneration in the retina and the brain. The course is intended for graduate students in neuroscience, psychology and other biomedical disciplines, but is also appropriate for advanced undergraduate students in the biomedical sciences, particularly those bound for medical and graduate school.

Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience

Semesters Offered:
Fall

NSC 5461 uses contemporary cellular and molecular approaches to learn about the nervous system. The course includes both class sessions led by a team of faculty, where group discussions and exercises are held, and journal discussion sessions, where students present original research papers. Required for first-year students in the Graduate Program in Neuroscience, the course is also appropriate for graduate students in other programs and advanced undergraduates with previous background in neuroscience.

Neuroscience Principles of Drug Abuse

Semesters Offered:
Spring

This course addresses current research on drugs of abuse, their mechanisms of action, characteristics shared by various agents, and neural systems affected by them. Course requirements include participation in discussions of current literature and writing a paper.

Itasca Cell And Molecular Neurobiology Laboratory

Semesters Offered:
Summer

The Neuroscience Graduate Program offers a 5-week laboratory course exploring basic neurobiology on the campus of the Lake Itasca Forestry and Biology Station in northern Minnesota. Each week covers a separate subject and is taught by a veteran team of faculty from the University of Minnesota and an occasional visiting faculty. Each part of the course provides didactic instruction in some area of fundamental neurobiology along with a number of experimental problems for students to solve using modern experimental techniques, equipment and facilities. The setting for the course, in a pine forest on the shore of Lake Itasca, provides an atmosphere for uninterrupted study and close interaction between faculty and students.

Systems Neuroscience

Semesters Offered:
Fall

NSC 5561 will provide a contemporary understanding of the structure and function of neural systems. These are the systems of neurons that form the bases for sensation and movement, as well as sensory-motor and neural-endocrine integration. Required for first-year students in the Graduate Program in Neuroscience, the course is also appropriate for graduate students in other programs and advanced undergraduates with previous background in neuroscience.

Behavioral Neuroscience

Semesters Offered:
Spring

Behavioral Neuroscience is a course that will explore the underlying cellular mechanisms that enable an animal to solve and respond to particular problems encountered in its natural environment. Many of the animal systems presented are those that not only exhibit interesting behaviors, but have been studied in enough detail that they illustrate important and conserved principles of neural organization. The course is comparative in nature and will highlight successful neural strategies and behavioral skills used by a diverse array of animals, from insects to humans.

Fundamental Neuroscience

Semesters Offered:
Fall

Instructors: 
Paul G. Mermelstein, PhD
Robert L. Meisel, PhD

This course is designed for freshmen and sophomore students interested in a better understanding about how our brains function. There are no prerequisites for the course other than a strong sense of curiosity. The course begins with several lectures that provide a biological foundation to appreciate the intricacies of our brains. These lectures will be easily accessible to students of all backgrounds. Afterwards, using case studies as a basis for understanding general phenomena, students will learn about a variety of topics, including, how our brains observe the world, imagine, fall in love, feel pain, respond to injury, develop, and respond to drugs or psychotherapy. Brain-machine interface technologies and cutting edge findings will also be explored. By taking this course, students will gain an even greater appreciation for the human brain, the most complex machine in existence.

Human Neuroanatomy

Semesters Offered:
Fall

Instructors: 
Martin Wessendorf, PhD

The human nervous system is possibly the most complex, highly evolved biological system. The functional unit of the nervous system is the nerve cell or neuron, and the human nervous system has approximately 10,000 unique types of neurons. Most neurons have a wire-like process, the axon. Neurons carry information to other cells via their axons and communicate with those cells via a transfer of chemicals at synapses. The connections among neurons are organized into functional systems. Disease affecting a small number of cells can affect the function of many parts of the nervous system. This course will provide a broad introduction to the nervous system with an emphasis on the human nervous system. The course will introduce the structure and function of neurons, the major anatomical parts of the nervous system and the main functional systems. Functional systems will be approached through an understanding of the anatomical circuitry. The fundamental concepts of neurochemical communication studied in general terms in the first part of the course will be re-examined relative to specific functional systems later in the course. Although the major focus of the course will be on the normal nervous system, common diseases will be introduced for each main topic. Students will gain an understanding of the nature of many common neurological diseases, which will provide further insight into how the normal nervous system functions. The anatomical substrates of learning/memory, emotions and drug actions will be examined. Through the assigned readings, lectures, and laboratory exercises, students are expected to gain an understanding of the neural circuitry and information processing responsible for the diverse range of human behaviors. This course fulfills LE Biological Sciences Lab Core requirement. The course requires a 2-hour weekly lab as well as the three lectures per week.

Neuroscience and Society

Semesters Offered:
Spring

What is the public’s perception of stem cell therapy for neurodegenerative diseases and spinal cord injury? Is it more informed by science or mass media? Does deep brain stimulation threaten personal identity? Does ADHD medication treat disease or childhood? As the field of neuroscience increases our depth of knowledge regarding how the brain generates and controls behaviors and ideas, questions are raised that challenge societal definitions of mind and body, free will, personal responsibility, and more. This “neuroethics” course aims to unravel the ethical implications of the intersection of neuroscience and society. These ideas will be examined through readings, personal reflections, class discussions, debates and formal writing. Beyond the content, the class will focus on the development of logical arguments, writing skills, oral presentation skills, and teamwork. Students will be expected to present and argue both their own personal views and those of others. Topics and exercises are designed to help students understand different points of view than their own and to gain an understanding of what it is like to have altered mentation, i.e. a brain disease or disability. Readings and multimedia reports will be drawn from the primary neuroscience literature as well as philosophy, policy, and law literature and popular media.

NSCI 3001Topics to be covered in this course are at the interface between experimental neuroscience and social issues. A deep understanding of these topics becomes necessary as society struggles with the policy implications of our changing understanding of mental abilities and responsibilities. By structuring the course so that students find appropriate resources and work in groups to discuss, present and reconcile issues, NSCI 3001W will build skill sets needed for life-long learning by engaging students in creating deep understanding of multiple points of view, problem-solving, and communication.

Requirements satisfied
This course satisfies the “Civic Life and Ethics” liberal education requirement, the group C (pre-fall 2010 admissions) or group B (admission fall 2010 and after) Neuroscience major requirement, and writing intensive course requirement. For the justification for this classification see the section at the end of this syllabus. A Liberal Education prepares students for future encounters with professional, civic or personal problems by developing skill sets needed for generating creative solutions. By focusing on development of ethical issues posed by emerging neuroscience, NSCI 3001W addresses the liberal education theme of Civic Life and Ethics.

What this course is NOT
NSCI 3001This is not a lecture course in neuroscience. During class, students will engage in daily discussions on topics chosen by the instructors and by the students with the aim of exploring the arguments on all sides of the issues. In preparation for these informed discussions, prior to every class, students will read and summarize in writing contemporary articles and media from neuroscience, policy and contemporary literature assigned on the topics. With the emphasis on construction of informed arguments, both oral and written, and teamwork, regular class attendance is extremely important. In order for instructors to read and provide feedback on the written work, assignment deadlines are not flexible. In the past, students who regularly do the reading, participate in the discussions, and turn in the written assignments on time do well. If you do not plan to attend regularly or to do the assigned readings and writings on time, this is not a course for you.

Course prerequisites
Students must have completed their Biological Science Liberal Education requirement by the beginning of the term. All students must be prepared to read and evaluate primary literature.NSCI 3001

For a full description of course learning and developmental outcomes, other course policies, schedules and grading structure in past years, please see the example. Details will vary slightly from year to year.

Materials
Syllabus and Grading

Mind and Brain

Semesters Offered:
Spring

This course is intended as a survey of the current thinking in the relationship between mind and brain. Over the last several decades, a new view of cognition and neural processing has been developed based on the concepts of al¬gorithm, representation, computation, and information processing. Within this theoretical frame¬work, psychological constructs are computational processes occur¬ring across physical neural systems. We will take a neuroscience and psychological perspective in which the physical neuroscience instantiates but does not diminish the psychological constructs. Although our conceptual framework will be computational, this course will not require or expect any mathematical or computer background.

Goal
At the completion of this class, you will understand the implications of the physical nature of the brain – how mentation is explicable from physical processes, and how decision-making arises from those same physical processes. Importantly, you will also understand the limitations of current knowledge and the methodologies being used to push those limitations. This class is not intended as a final step in this understanding, but as a first step into these issues. At the conclusion of the class, you should have sufficient understanding to continue more in-depth reading and study in these issues.

Format
The format of each class will be 10 minutes of review of the homework from the previous week, a one hour (interactive) lecture followed by a 20-minute break out session in which the students will address a discussion question in groups of 4-5, and a 5-minute reintegration whole-class discussion. The lectures will be Socratic, and students should expect to be ready to answer questions during the lecture.

Introduction to Neuroscience I

Semesters Offered:
Fall

Instructors:
Lorene M. Lanier, PhD

This course serves as an introduction to the basic principles of cellular and molecular neurobiology and nervous systems. The main topics include: Organization of simple networks, neural systems and behavior; how the brain develops and the physiology and communication of neurons and glia; the molecular and genetic basis of cell organization; ion channel structure and function; the molecular basis of synaptic receptors; transduction mechanisms and second messengers; intracellular regulation of calcium; neurotransmitter systems, including excitation and inhibition, neuromodulation, system regulation and the cellular basis of learning, memory and cognition. The course is intended for students majoring in neuroscience but is open to all students with the required prerequisites.

Intro to Neurobiology II: Perception and Behavior

Semesters Offered:
Spring

This is the second of the introductory neuroscience courses. This course introduces concepts in Systems and Behavioral Neuroscience with emphasis on the organization of neural systems/subsystems underlying sensory/motor aspects of behavior. Topics include sensorimotor integration, vestibular system, visual and auditory systems. Students must learn to read scientific papers and to understand the main ideas well enough to synthesize them and communicate them both orally and in writing. The course is writing intensive and is required for students majoring in neuroscience but is open to all students with the required prerequisites. The course consists of two hours of lecture and one hour of discussion per week A 10-15 page term paper, and a 4-6 page draft of this term paper are required.

Visit course website