Section 000  Topic: Neuroethics
Crutcher, Michael - MWF 12:50-1:40 1462 Clifton Rd, Room 231
MAX: 18

Text: Kandel et al. Principles of Neural Science, 4th Edition. (McGraw-Hill)

Content: An introduction to cellular and integrative neurobiology. Topics include the electrochemical and biophysical mechanisms for neuronal signaling and synaptic transmission, and the neural bases of behavior and perception.

Particulars: Grades will be based on two or three 1-1/2 hour long exams during the semester and a comprehensive final. There will also be a required 1 hour review session each week.

Special Notes: Prerequisites: CHEM 141 and 142, BIO 141 and 142 is required; completion of MATH 116 and completion or concurrent enrollment in Intro Physics is strongly recommended.

Section 00B (2379)

Prinz, Astrid  Tuesday 4:00-6:00  max 10 1462 Clifton Rd. Room 109  2 Credits

Text: Neurons in Action 2: Tutorials and Simulations Using Neurons (software). (Sinauer)

Content: In this 2-credit hour lab course, students will explore topics in cellular and small network neuroscience by performing virtual electrophysiology experiments on the computer. The content of the course matches material covered in the Introductory Neurobiology course, Biology 360/NBB 301, and will help students understand neurons and neuronal networks in greater depth.

Particulars: To be taken concurrently with or after BIO 360/NBB 301 (TTh, 8:30-9:45, 1462 Clifton Road, Room 230 or TTh, 11:30-12:45, 1462 Clifton Road, Room 308). Grades will be based on class assignments. There will be no exams. This course, taken with BIO360/NBB 301, meets the upper level laboratory requirement for students under the Fall 2006 and later Biology major programs. The course can also be counted as half an elective for the NBB major. Cross-listed as NBB 301L.

Text: TBA

Content: Somatosensory feedback and awareness is often underappreciated. In this seminar course, the underlying neuro-anatomy and physiology of body consciousness and self-awareness is reviewed. Then normal somatic sensory and pain transmission is understood through lecture, reading, and discussion. Drugs that dampen our awareness of somatic "self" are examined in historical perspective, including their tendency to be abused. Finally, anesthetics are contrasted with analgesics in terms of the underlying neuronal populations and processes which they alter. This course will appeal to those who want perspective on drugs that have a long and fascinating history of medical use clouded by social and cultural context and especially strict government regulation.

Section 001 (4041): Learning and Memory (Same as PSYC 302)

Hamann, TThurs 1:00-2:15, MAX: 25: PSYC=20, NBB=5 

Content: This course covers the basic structure and organization of human memory. Major topic include: amnesia, methods for improving memory, age-related memory disorders including Alzheimer’s disease, emotional memory, the debate over recovered memory for traumatic events, encoding, storage, and retrieval from short-and-long-term memory, declarative and nondeclarative memory, forgetting, applications of memory research, and the neural basis of memory

Content: a seminar designed to provide a firm foundational understanding of medically-relevant human brain diseases, the mammalian models used to study and treat those diseases, and how academic and industry researchers design and conduct experiments. A multimedia approach will give students a first-hand look at real behavioral experiments. Coupled with visits to internationally renowned laboratories, this course will provide both theoretical and practical knowledge that will benefit students heading to medical school, academia, or industry. Collaborative group projects using a "virtual laboratory" of video-recorded experiments will help students gain greater comfort with real-world collaborative science, the primary literature, as well as oral and written scientific communication. A variety of short writings, mini-quizzes, paper critiques, mini-exams, and one final group project centered around a video experiment will be used to help students stay abreast of the material and evaluate their progress.

Particulars: Prerequisites: NBB301 or consent from the instructor.

Text: Reading will consist of primary literature, reviews, and book chapters (From both neuroscience and philosophy)

Content: This course is designed to explore issues like morality, emotion, reason, and consciousness from the parallel perspectives of neuroscience and philosophy. These topics will be explored from both the perspective of neuroscientists and modern philosophers to compare how these two disciplines address common ideas. Emphasis will be placed on students exploring how these fields conduct research and what each field can potentially learn from the other. Students will be asked to do primary literature readings, two reflective papers and a final group project and paper on a topic of interest.

Particulars: Prerequisite: NBB 301 or permission of instructor

Text: None.

Content: A writing intensive Senior Seminar utilizing primary literature to examine current issues, trends, and controversies in the field of Neuroscience and Behavioral Biology.

Particulars: Required for all Seniors in the NBB Program.

Special Notes: Prerequisites: NBB 201, 301 & 302 or permission of the instructor.

Text: To be determined

Content: This course will focus on the application of imaging technology (Computed Tomography (CT), Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) and others) to the study of brain anatomy and function. The goal is for you to obtain a working knowledge of these techniques and the strengths and limitations of each. Our topics will range from historically well established methods to new methods on the horizon of basic and clinical research

Content: Fall, Spring, Summer. Open to senior NBB majors enrolled in the College Honors Program. Honors research in neurobiology/behavior. Registrants attend bi-weekly meetings to present progress reports of their ongoing research, discuss how to write proposals and papers, and give oral presentations.

Special Notes: Pre/co-requisites: Permission of instructor and NBB 221 (PSY 230 not accepted). Cannot be taken concurrently with NBB 497WR or NBB 499R. A maximum of four hours of NBB 495A, 495BWR, 497R, 497WR, or 499R accepted as an elective toward the NBB major. (Forms in NBB Office)

Content: Fall, Spring, Summer. Open to senior NBB majors enrolled in the College Honors Program. Honors research in neurobiology/behavior. Registrants attend bi-weekly meetings to present progress reports of their ongoing research, discuss how to write proposals, papers, and give oral presentations. To receive credit for the course and to satisfy the senior-year writing requirement, a student thesis must be accepted by the Honors Program.

Special Notes: Prerequisites: Permission of instructor; NBB 221 (PSY 230 not accepted); NBB 495A; (with permission of instructor, may substitute NBB 499R). Cannot be taken concurrently with NBB 499R; may not receive credit for NBB 495BWRa and NBB 497WR under the direction of the same faculty mentor. A maximum of four hours of NBB 495A, 495BWR, 497R, 497WR, or 499R accepted as an elective toward the NBB major. (Forms in NBB Office)

Content: Fall, Spring, Summer. Credit: one to four hours. Independent, faculty-mentored research; designed as a prelude to conducting laboratory research under the same mentor.

Special Notes: Prerequisites: Permission of instructor. Cannot be taken concurrently with NBB 497WR. A maximum of four hours of NBB 495A, 495BWR, 497R, 497WR, or 499R accepted as an elective toward the NBB major. (Forms in NBB Office)

Content: Fall, Spring, Summer. Independent, faculty-mentored research and writing, with major writing assignment(s) accounting for at least 60% of the grade.

Special Notes: Prerequisite: Permission of instructor. Cannot be taken concurrently with NBB 497R. May not receive credit for NBB 497WR and 495BWR under the direction of the same faculty mentor. A maximum of four hours of NBB 495A, 495BWR, 497R, 497WR, or 499R accepted as an elective toward the NBB major. (Forms in NBB Office)

Content: Fall, Spring, Summer. Credit: one to four hours. Up to eight hours may be taken, but a maximum of four hours of NBB 495A, 495BWR, 497R, 497WR, or 499R accepted as an elective toward the NBB major. Independent research in neurobiology and behavior. Registrants attend bi-weekly meetings to present progress reports of their ongoing research, discuss how to write proposals, papers, and give oral presentations.

Special Notes: Prerequisites: Permission of instructor (for enrollment in a second semester, NBB 221 (PSY 230 not accepted); cannot be taken concurrently with NBB 495A, 495BWR or 497WR. (Forms in NBB Office)

Content:  This course provides a broad-based, comparative survey of the behavior and ecology of nonhuman primates, focusing on the ecological and evolutionary forces that have shaped the behavior of primate species.  Emphasis will be placed on why social systems and behavioral patterns may be adaptive for individual primates, using data from studies of wild primates in their natural habitats.  Topics to be considered include feeding and sexual competition, ecology and social organization, sexual behavior and reproductive strategies, parental behavior and infant development, social bonds, communication, and cognition.   Classes will consist of lectures, films, and discussions.

Texts:  Karen Strier 2003 Primate Behavioral Ecology Third Edition, Allyn and Bacon.  Other readings to be announced.

Particulars:  Grading will be based on the following:  3 exams: 60% (20% each); assignments and discussion: 40%.

Text:

• Nolte, John, The Human Brain: An Introduction to Its Functional Anatomy.(N) 
• Allman, John, Evolving Brains (A)
• Damasio, Antonio, Descartes' Error (D)
• Powerpoint Lectures on Blackboard Handouts

Content: This course is an upper level introduction to the basis of complex human behavior in the brain. We will focus on human brain structure and function with a view toward mastering the anatomy that underlies cognition and emotion. We will give significant attention to the phylogenetic context of human brain evolution, with reference to comparative neuroanatomy of primates, other mammals, and other vertebrates. We will then proceed to study the most interesting new model of higher brain function, that of behavioral neurologist Albert Damasio. The overall goal is to master the anatomy underlying higher human capacities, but without losing sight of the ways in which our brain’s evolutionary past can inform our understanding of how that brain works now.

Particulars:
Exams: Three hour-examinations and a cumulative final, all True/False and Multiple Choice Grading, 70 percent for the hour-exams (20+25+25), 30 percent for the final, The third hour exam is optional.

Prerequisites: One or more of the following: Anthropology 210, NBB 201/ANT 200, Psych 103, or Psych 110; or permission of the instructor. Recommended for strongly motivated students

Text: TBA.

Content: This course surveys the global landscape of challenges to physical and mental health that confront us today, and traces the emergence of biosocial approaches to both explaining and tackling these challenges. A major goal for the class is to develop student skills for navigating the current global health situation in the light of theory and practice in public health and biomedicine, as well as global economics, ecology, and resource availability. To accomplish these aims we will cover five recent insights and emerging dynamics in global health, and critically apply them in a series of case studies. Class assignments will take the form of exercises for which students will consult, evaluate, and integrate multiple information resources to assess the state of our knowledge and write reports and analyses. Information resources specialists will contribute training and guidance throughout the course.

Particulars: Prerequisite – Anthropology 230 or 332. Exams – none. Papers – Seven case study analyses, ranging from 2-6 pp.

Text: Garrett, R. and Grisham. Biochemistry, 3rd Edition (Thomson Publishing). (NOTE: This is the standard 3rd edition of the text, not the "updated" 3rd Edition.)Garrett, R. and Grisham. Biochemistry, 3rd Edition (Thomson Publishing)

Content: The Biology and Chemistry Departments cooperate in a two-semester biochemistry course and Biology 301 is the first semester portion of the course. This course gives an integrated approach to the synthesis, structure, and function of macromolecular biomolecules, including proteins, carbohydrates, DNA, and RNA. The evolution of structural and catalytic diversity at a molecular level will provide a theme that underpins specific examples that will include: the energetics of catalysis, protein structure and folding, enzyme kinetics and mechanisms, protein engineering, DNA structure and synthesis, RNA structure and synthesis, and genomic organization and regulation.

Particulars: This course is the first semester of a two-semester sequence in Introductory Biochemistry, which is offered jointly by the Biology and Chemistry Departments. Completion of both courses should provide students with a firm foundation in biochemistry.

Special Notes: Prerequisites: Biology 141 and 142; Chemistry 222.

Text: Alcock, J. Animal Behavior: An Evolutionary Approach, 8th Edition. (Sinauer)

Content: This course provides an overview of major research areas in the field of animal behavior. The behavior of animals will be analyzed from an evolutionary and comparative perspective. Specific topics include orientation and migration, genetic and environmental influences on behavior, aggression, courtship and mating strategies, parental behavior foraging, predatory-prey relationships, and social organization.

Particulars: Two one hour exams and a final. Exams are weighted so that your best score represents 40% of your grade, the lowest score counts 25% of the final grade, and the middle score 35%. Students may NOT satisfy a writing requirement in this course.

Special Notes: Prerequisites: Biology 141 and 142.

Text: Widmaier, E., H. Raff, and K. Strang. Vander et. al's Human Physiology, 10th Edition (with FREE Art Notebook). (McGraw-Hill)

Content: A study of human physiology emphasizing homeostatic mechanisms of integrated body functions. Topics include homeostasis and cell signaling, respiration, circulation, contractility, renal function, immunology, endocrinology, and neurophysiology.

Particulars: Four in class tests. Credit may be applied towards the Biology or NBB major.

Special Notes: Prerequisites: Biology 141 and 142

Text: Garrett, R. and Grisham. Biochemistry, 3rd Edition (Thomson Publishing)

Content: The Biology and Chemistry Departments cooperate in a two-semester biochemistry course and Biology 301 is the first semester portion of the course. This course gives an integrated approach to the synthesis, structure, and function of macromolecular biomolecules, including proteins, carbohydrates, DNA, and RNA. The evolution of structural and catalytic diversity at a molecular level will provide a theme that underpins specific examples that will include: the energetics of catalysis, protein structure and folding, enzyme kinetics and mechanisms, protein engineering, DNA structure and synthesis, RNA structure and synthesis, and genomic organization and regulation.

Particulars: This course is the first semester of a two-semester sequence in Introductory Biochemistry, which is offered jointly by the Biology and Chemistry Departments. Completion of both courses should provide students with a firm foundation in biochemistry.

Special Notes: Prerequisites: Biology 141 and 142; Chemistry 222.

Content: This course is designed to provide students with an introduction to the field of neuroeconomics. Upon completion of the course, students will have a basic understanding of the tools used to study the neurobiology of decision making. Topics will include an introduction to brain anatomy, how neurons function, and key neurotransmitter systems associated with valuation. A core topic will be an introduction to functional MRI and how to use fMRI to measure neurobiological processes of decision making. Practical applications will be covered including the use of fMRI to predict choice, lie detection, social preferences, and neuromarketing.

Particulars: Midterm “white paper” (20%), final research proposal or business plan in which the student proposes a use of fMRI in an economic or business application (paper – 40%, presentation – 40%).
Prerequisites: Economics 201 and 212, or NBB 301 and 302, or consent of instructor.

Text: Primary text will include novels and stories that focus on sensory experience, especially the representation of particular senses

Content: This course will bring together students of literature and science to explore the ways that human sensory impressions are turned into language and emerge through language and art. Whether sensory experience is "translated" into language will be one of the main issues we address. We will also consider how synthesia, or sensory "mixing" can contribute to the creation of literature. Guest speakers involved in biomedical research will describe the workings of the visual, auditory, and olfactory systems (taste and touch will also get some attention!), and we will discuss how scientists' understanding of the ways the senses work can enrich our readings of literary texts, and how literature can enrich scientists' understandings of sensory systems.

Particulars: Graduate and undergraduate students will receive different syllabi and have different course requirements. All students will be asked to write weekly 1-2 page reading responses and to make two 5-10 minute in-class presentations on their research projects. Undergraduates will be asked to write a 15 page research paper, which must be revised one time.

Text:

• Beauchamp and Walters, Contemporary Issues in Bioethics
• Pence, Classic Cases in Medical Ethics, 3rd edition

Content: Biomedical ethics is one of several so called practical ethics subjects roughly on a par with business, military and environmental ethics. The problems dealt with in this field of ethics include the following:
1. When, if ever, do health-care providers cease to support human life?
2. Should they ever take steps alone, or with the assistance of patients, to actually end life?
3. Is abortion an ending of life and should it be permitted?
4. When, if ever, should providers not reveal the truth to their patients (or the subjects of experiments)?
5. When, if ever, should health-care providers break rules of confidentiality concerning their patients?
6. How should scarce medical resources be allocated? Should the rich have access to these resources first since they have the money to pay for medical services? Or should we tax the rich and thus let others have access (and at the same time deny the rich the opportunity to buy medical services?
7. Is health care in the US being distributed fairly? Does our system of health care need reform? Is managed care in the US making things worse of better?

Particulars: Journal of short essays, two mid-term tests (100 points each), and one semi-cumulative final exam.

Content: Current views on how we remember and why we forget. Examples from both psychological laboratory and naturalistic settings will be used. Note: This course is not about the biological bases of memory.

Particulars: There will be two exams and four short papers

Content: This course provides an overview of major research areas in the field of animal behavior. The behavior of animals will be analyzed from an evolutionary and comparative perspective. Specific topics include orientation and migration, genetic and environmental influences on behavior,aggression, courtship and mating strategies, parental behavior, foraging, predatory-prey relationships, and social organization.

Particulars: Two one hour exams and a comprehensive final. Exams are weighted so that your best score represents 40% of your grade, the lowest score counts 25% of the final grade, and the middle score 35%.

Content: This course is a survey of the neurobehavioral effects of the various classes of psychoactive drugs, e.g., stimulants, tranquilizers, hallucinogens, etc. Although human experience is taken as the starting point of each drug effect covered, most of the experimental data presented are concerned with attempts to understand behavioral drug effects using nonhuman animal models. A fundamental idea is that by understanding the brain mechanisms through which psychoactive drugs exert their effects, we can understand the brain mechanisms of pain, perception, anxiety, schizophrenia, depression, etc.

Particulars: First year students CANNOT take this course.