What is NEUR 200?
An exploration of brain and behavior. The amazing progress in neuroscience research over the last decades has revolutionized our understanding of brain function. You will learn about that research and its implications for understanding behaviors, normal and abnormal. You will also explore neuroscience's increasingly pervasive effects on day-to-day life and society in general.
To appreciate fully the recent advances, you will need to understand the basics of nervous system structure and function.
Nervous system structure
• you will come to appreciate the logic of how the brain is structured into its various components and systems
• you will see how contemporary research techniques (fMRI, DTI, Clarity, confocal microscopy, and others) are telling us both about how structures work together to yield complex behaviors
• one of the most important recent realizations is that the activity of the 86 billion nerve cells (neurons) is only half of the story - another 80 billion cells, the glia, play crucial roles in development, maintenance, and even communication within the nervous system. The glia also contribute to the neuroinflammation involved in several brain disorders.
• weird as it may sound, there are another 10 trillion cells in your body that normally influence brain function in major ways - these are the bacteria in your gut. And if you don't get enough sleep, those bacteria can start to disrupt brain function.
• you will come to appreciate the logic of how the brain is structured into its various components and systems
• you will see how contemporary research techniques (fMRI, DTI, Clarity, confocal microscopy, and others) are telling us both about how structures work together to yield complex behaviors
• one of the most important recent realizations is that the activity of the 86 billion nerve cells (neurons) is only half of the story - another 80 billion cells, the glia, play crucial roles in development, maintenance, and even communication within the nervous system. The glia also contribute to the neuroinflammation involved in several brain disorders.
• weird as it may sound, there are another 10 trillion cells in your body that normally influence brain function in major ways - these are the bacteria in your gut. And if you don't get enough sleep, those bacteria can start to disrupt brain function.
Nerve cell communication
• behaviors come from electrical and chemical activity in the nervous system. Communication within and among neurons is the key component.
• each neuron in the brain can receive input from thousands of other neurons. What does it do with all that information? You will learn that the answer lies in electrical signals within a neuron.
• neurons communicate with other neurons through synapses like the ones in the image. This is where neurotransmitters like dopamine and serotonin work. Altering synapse activity is usually very helpful (in forming memories, for instance), but this is also where things can go badly awry.
• we will study a broad range of nervous system diseases as a strategy to better understand the normal functioning of synapses and neural circuits. Among them will be schizophrenia, depression, Parkinson's and Alzheimer's diseases plus some more obscure problems like Capgras Syndrome and Exploding Head Syndrome.
• behaviors come from electrical and chemical activity in the nervous system. Communication within and among neurons is the key component.
• each neuron in the brain can receive input from thousands of other neurons. What does it do with all that information? You will learn that the answer lies in electrical signals within a neuron.
• neurons communicate with other neurons through synapses like the ones in the image. This is where neurotransmitters like dopamine and serotonin work. Altering synapse activity is usually very helpful (in forming memories, for instance), but this is also where things can go badly awry.
• we will study a broad range of nervous system diseases as a strategy to better understand the normal functioning of synapses and neural circuits. Among them will be schizophrenia, depression, Parkinson's and Alzheimer's diseases plus some more obscure problems like Capgras Syndrome and Exploding Head Syndrome.
Sensory and motor systems
• how does a juggler or a concert pianist or an Olympic gymnast accomplish their astounding feats of movement and muscle control? You will learn the elegant ways by which the nervous system uses information about the external world and body position to activate just the right muscles, in just the right sequence, with just the right strength, for just the right amount of time to play an arpeggio or execute a Arabian double pike.
• vision is our most important sensory system, so you will focus on it to learn the major principles of sensory processing. We will also explore the sense of touch and the related topic of pain. And you will meet the Homunculus.
• you will also learn that our experience of the world around us is an incomplete and distorted representation of reality. One demonstration of this comes from optical illusions, another from the very weird Rubber Hand illusion.
• how does a juggler or a concert pianist or an Olympic gymnast accomplish their astounding feats of movement and muscle control? You will learn the elegant ways by which the nervous system uses information about the external world and body position to activate just the right muscles, in just the right sequence, with just the right strength, for just the right amount of time to play an arpeggio or execute a Arabian double pike.
• vision is our most important sensory system, so you will focus on it to learn the major principles of sensory processing. We will also explore the sense of touch and the related topic of pain. And you will meet the Homunculus.
• you will also learn that our experience of the world around us is an incomplete and distorted representation of reality. One demonstration of this comes from optical illusions, another from the very weird Rubber Hand illusion.
Plasticity
• your brain is constantly changing throughout your life. This is plasticity.
• did you know that three months before you were born, you had the greatest number of nerve cells you'll ever have? It might be counterintuitive, but effective brain development requires killing off neurons and destroying synapses. The trick is choosing which neurons and synapses have to go. Developmental plasticity at work ...
• to treat a particularly nasty disorder, one half of a young child's brain must be removed. You might predict profound deficiencies in thinking and memory, yet one such girl went on to graduate salutatorian of her high school class. Compensatory plasticity at work ...
• are your memories accurate and complete? Sorry ... they're not. Memories are not hardcopy video clips, and they can easily be distorted or even lost. Storing memories involves physical changes in the brain (plasticity), but exactly how that works is arguably the most important unanswered question in neuroscience today.
• your brain is constantly changing throughout your life. This is plasticity.
• did you know that three months before you were born, you had the greatest number of nerve cells you'll ever have? It might be counterintuitive, but effective brain development requires killing off neurons and destroying synapses. The trick is choosing which neurons and synapses have to go. Developmental plasticity at work ...
• to treat a particularly nasty disorder, one half of a young child's brain must be removed. You might predict profound deficiencies in thinking and memory, yet one such girl went on to graduate salutatorian of her high school class. Compensatory plasticity at work ...
• are your memories accurate and complete? Sorry ... they're not. Memories are not hardcopy video clips, and they can easily be distorted or even lost. Storing memories involves physical changes in the brain (plasticity), but exactly how that works is arguably the most important unanswered question in neuroscience today.
Biological rhythms and sleep
• few areas in neuroscience have as many misunderstandings and misconceptions as these. The truths that you will learn about rhythms and sleep are far more interesting than the fictions.
• why do teenagers have such a hard time getting up in the morning? Why is it crazy to schedule school start times late for elementary school and early for high school? Why is the Italian daily work schedule healthier than ours in the United States? It's all about circadian (daily) biological rhythms.
• are naps really beneficial? Why is a 20-minute nap more useful than a 90-minute nap? Which is better, a 20-minute nap or a strong cup of coffee? Complicated questions that require a good understanding of sleep biology to answer.
• it is impossible to avoid sleep. Why? We will look at many sleep deprivation studies that provide some, but certainly not all of the answers. That will lead us to exploration of a Big (unanswered) Question: What is the function of sleep?
• few areas in neuroscience have as many misunderstandings and misconceptions as these. The truths that you will learn about rhythms and sleep are far more interesting than the fictions.
• why do teenagers have such a hard time getting up in the morning? Why is it crazy to schedule school start times late for elementary school and early for high school? Why is the Italian daily work schedule healthier than ours in the United States? It's all about circadian (daily) biological rhythms.
• are naps really beneficial? Why is a 20-minute nap more useful than a 90-minute nap? Which is better, a 20-minute nap or a strong cup of coffee? Complicated questions that require a good understanding of sleep biology to answer.
• it is impossible to avoid sleep. Why? We will look at many sleep deprivation studies that provide some, but certainly not all of the answers. That will lead us to exploration of a Big (unanswered) Question: What is the function of sleep?