Our Curriculum

This course is a unique ‘introduction’ to the neuroscience major. It spotlights the key neuroscientists, psychologists and philosophers who have offered theories and perspectives on the so-called ‘hard problem’ of mapping mind onto the brain. Will it be possible, for example, to account for our fullest experiences of consciousness in terms of the brain?  What is a self? The neuroscience faculty believe that an introduction should make relevant why neuroscience cares about cells, circuits and behaviors—and that it is not at all clear how neuroscience might integrate biology and psychology to make sense of what we experience, know and feel. The course surveys a variety of different perspectives on this problem with the ultimate goal of directing neuroscience and its efforts in the new century.

This course is a mid-level survey of behavioral and systems neuroscience. It works from the fundamental hypothesis that the brain and behavior of organisms are reciprocally related and uses both primary literature and human case studies to show this plastic reciprocity. It rigorously introduces the putative sensory, motor, affective, motivational and cognitive circuitry underlying specific behaviors as well as the specific effects of their dysregulation on behavior. A parallel laboratory sequence engages students in the fundamentals of experimental design, data analysis and presentation, as well as a four-week intensive module on neuroanatomy.

This course operates similarly to Brain & Behavior, but with a focus on the fundamentals of cellular and molecular neuroscience. It rigorously introduces neural and glial cell biology, signaling complexes, synaptic transmission and the functional analysis of circuits within a mechanistic and biophysical (rather than purely descriptive) framework. A parallel laboratory sequence offers students empirical tools to study the structure and function of neurons in action. It also introduces and develops sophistication with primary research literature in cellular and molecular neuroscience and more recently, structured conversations about neuroscience as a discipline, including ethics, animal research, emerging research methods and perspectives on inequality and social identity.

This course is the ‘capstone’ of the major and offers students an opportunity to craft a novel, comprehensive, independent grant proposal in neuroscience, presented publicly to the Department faculty, majors, and an audience of family and peers. Because this course focuses on grant writing, it is excellent preparation for postgraduate careers and graduate school. Each year the Department offers about three sections of this course. Although the specific focus of each section of the course will vary from instructor to instructor as well as year by year, the major goal of producing a research grant remains the same. Recent NSC 401 course themes include: neuropsychological disorders; physiology of flavor; neuroethology of pollinating insects; neuroendocrinology of stress; sleep, dreaming, & meditation; numerical cognition; and cognitive multitasking.