Syllabus - Biology 3800
Spring 2004
Instructors: Dr. Charles Keith
Room 361, Biological Sciences Building (2-3331)
chkeith@cb.uga.edu
Dr. James Lauderdale
Room 360, Biological Sciences Building
jdlauder@cb.uga.edu
TA: Engda Hagos
Room 604, Biological Sciences Building
engda@uga.edu
This course serves as an introduction to the structural organization, basic physiology, and neurochemistry of the vertebrate nervous system. The basic progression of the course is from the level of the individual units of the nervous system - nerve cells - up to their integration into the nervous system as a whole.
Prerequisite: Biology 1103 and 1104, or 1107 and 1108, or equivalent.
Textbook: Bear, Connors and Paradiso, Neuroscience ñ Exploring the Brain
Optional texts may be put on reserve at the Bioscience Learning Center or posted to WebCT, and will be announced in class.
Examinations: There will be three hourly examinations, plus the final. The final will be a two-parter: the first part will cover the last part of the course, and the second part will be a comprehensive review of the entire course. Each hourly exam, and each part of the final, will represent one "test unit", and will be equally weighted. The hourly exams will be as scheduled, below, and the final will be from 8:00-12:00 on Thursday, May 6. Please mark your calendars appropriately NOW.
Assignments:
A general outline of the course is provided. Generally, each unit except unit 2 will represent two weeks. Required readings for each unit are listed in bold. Readings that are applicable to an entire unit are listed next to the unit heading. The book has three types of text boxes: ́Path of Discoveryî boxes, ́Special Interestî boxes, and ́Brain Foodî boxes. You will not be responsible for the first, although you may find them interesting. You will be responsible for those of the latter two covered in lecture. Also note that the book has more extensive coverage of some topics than the lectures, and less of others. In all cases, you are responsible for the material covered in lecture.
The reading materials are supplemented by a WebCT site. This site has a bulletin board on which your questions can be publicly posted and will be answered, outlines of the lectures, images not contained in the text, and readings beyond those contained in the text. Before the second meeting of class, I will add you to the site; you will then be able to login using your UGAMyID, which is the same as your arches login. The pages of the site are set up as text (for speed of loading) with links (underscored and in different colors) that can be clicked on to display images. Once you display an image, you can very quickly flip between image and text using the "<back" and ">forward" buttons on your browser. While it is possible to print these pages out, they are available 24 hours a day, so it should not be necessary.
Grading:
Grades will be assigned on a scale of A-F, depending on test scores on a comparative basis across the class. Even if the average should be extremely high, individuals scoring 90-100 are guaranteed an A, those scoring 80-90 are guaranteed a B or better, and those scoring 70-80 are guaranteed a C or better.
The midpoint withdrawal deadline is Friday, March 5. Anybody wishing to withdraw before then will be given a W. After the midpoint of the quarter, anybody withdrawing without a valid medical excuse will be given a WF.
Extra Credit:
Reading and understanding the primary literature is essential to a broad-based understanding of the biological sciences. To encourage you to that end, we will offer extra credit for a 1-2 page critical review of a paper in neuroscience. Your review paper must be on one of the primary research papers that will be posted to the WebCT site. Your review should briefly cover the background of the work, and present a critical review of the methods used and the conclusions drawn. A critical review does not necessarily need to be denigratory; rather it needs to appraise the appropriateness of the methods used, to evaluate how well they support the conclusions drawn, and to evaluate how significant the work is. One of the critical issues you should consider is whether their data are consistent with their hypothesis, whether they are also consistent with alternated hypotheses, and whether their controls eliminate those alternatives. Your review may or may not suggest further directions.
Reviews are due by Tuesday, April 20. They will be given a score from 1 to 5, which will be added to your average score for the course after the curve has been drawn.
Academic Dishonesty:
Cases of cheating, including collaborating on exams and papers and copying on exams will be dealt with according to standard University of Georgia protocol, as described in the booklet A Culture of Honesty: Policies and Procedures on Academic Honesty, available in the Biological Sciences office.
|
Tentative Schedule of Lectures |
Readings (Required readings are bold and are in Bear et al.) |
|
I. Introduction |
|
|
A. Orientation to neuroscience |
Chapter 1 |
|
B. Gross anatomy of the CNS |
Chapter 7, pages 164-175 |
|
1. Regional structure of the brain |
|
|
2. Descending (efferent) motor pathways |
|
|
3. Ascending (afferent) sensory pathways |
|
|
C. Brain Imaging |
|
|
|
|
|
II. Cell Biology of Neurons |
Chapter 2 |
|
A. Cells of the nervous system |
|
|
B. Vesicular Transport |
|
|
|
|
|
III. Physiology of Nerve Cells |
Chapter 3 |
|
A. Movement of materials through membranes - diffusion, carriers, pumps, and channels |
|
|
B. The resting potential |
|
|
C. The action potential |
Chapter 4 |
|
D. Conduction of the action potential ñ passive electrical properties of the neuron and myelination |
́ |
|
E. Interaction of channels to shape the action potential |
́ |
|
F. Ion channels - molecular mechanisms |
́ |
|
|
|
|
Exam 1: Thursday, February 5 |
|
|
|
|
|
IV. Synaptic transmission and neurochemistry |
|
|
A. Electrical and Chemical synapses |
Chapter 5 |
|
B. Quantal release of neurotransmitter |
́ |
|
C. Molecular mechanisms |
Chapter 6, pp147-160 |
|
D. Second messenger systems |
́ |
|
E. Neurotransmitters |
Chapter 6, pp130-147 |
|
|
|
|
V. Development of the Nervous System |
|
|
A. Embryogenesis through neurulation; neural induction |
Chapter 7, pp 175-196 |
|
B. Cell Migration |
Chapter 22 |
|
C. Neuronal differentiation |
́ |
|
D. Axon Elongation |
́ |
|
E. Synaptogenesis and synapse pruning |
́ |
|
F. Cell Death |
́ |
|
G. Modification of neural circuits by activity |
́ |
|
|
|
|
Exam 2: Tuesday, March 2 |
|
|
|
|
|
Midpoint of Semester: Tuesday, March 2 |
|
|
|
|
|
Midpoint withdrawal deadline: Friday, March 5 |
|
|
|
|
|
VI. Introduction to Sensory and Somatosensory systems |
Chapter 12 |
|
A. Introduction to sensory systems |
́ |
|
B. Chemical sense |
Chapter 8 |
|
C. Cutaneous sensation |
Chapter 12 |
|
D. Pain |
́ |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
VII. Higher sensory systems |
|
|
A. Audition |
Chapter 11 |
|
B. Vision |
Chapter 9, 10 |
|
|
|
|
Spring Break: March 8-12 |
|
|
|
|
|
Exam 3: Thursday, April 8 |
|
|
|
|
|
VIII. Motor Systems and Regulatory Processes |
|
|
A. The Motor Unit |
Chapter 13 |
|
B. Muscle Sense |
́ |
|
C. Spinal Motor Reflexes |
́ |
|
D. Descending Control of Spinal Motor Circuits |
Chapter 14 |
|
E. Modulation of movement - Basal Ganglia and Cerebellum |
́ |
|
|
|
|
IX. Complex Brain Function |
|
|
|
|
|
A. Emotions |
Chapter 18 |
|
B. Sex and the Brain |
Chapter 17 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Final Exam: Thursday, May 6. 8:00-12:00