This course will introduce the study of nervous systems from several levels of organization: from the cellular and molecular levels to the levels of the whole animal and behavior. We will discuss how information is carried by nervous tissue, electrochemical properties of resting and action potentials, neurotransmitters and synaptic transmission. We will also examine the transduction and processing of sensory information, neural control of motor systems, and the neurobiology of "higher" processes such as learning and memory, sleep and biological rhythms, addiction, awareness and consciousness.

I will try to differentiate this course from a neuroscience course taught from a psychology perspective. We will focus on the biological basis of psychology and behavior: the biology of neural structure and functions. I hope this focus will also demonstrate how neuroscience may contribute to our understanding of human consciousness and behavior. This course should also reveal neuroscience as a way of thinking, analysis and study, provide insight into current neurobiology techniques, and prepare you for advanced study in the field of neuroscience.

The goals of this course:

To introduce and review fundamental principles of neuroscience.

To demonstrate that neuroscience is not an unapproachable discipline but is instead an application of biological and scientific methods to animal behavior and nervous systems. It is also one of the most intriguing and fastest-growing fields of biology today.

To demonstrate that ALL animal behavior (and ALL human behavior) is a product of nervous systems and neural mechanisms. To demonstrate that nervous systems are plastic: their function is a product of environmental influences as well as genetics.

I also have two goals for the teaching of this course. They are 1) to make this a very INTEGRATIVE course and 2) to make this a very STUDENT-DIRECTED and STUDENT-DRIVEN course. Please be prepared to help me achieve these goals! Your focus and input are crucial!

Dwight Nelson, Ph.D.
Mail: OWS 153
Office address: OWS 366
Research Lab: OWS 368
Office Phone: (651)962-5233
Email: DENELSON@stthomas.edu

By appointment or drop-in at any time. Call me at school or at home to talk about something urgent. Otherwise talk to me in class or lab or any time in my office.

Class will meet on regularly each week in Owens Science Hall. Attendance and participation in class is absolutely essential to your success in this course. At least 20% of your final grade will be determined through classroom and lab participation.

Laboratory is also scheduled for 4 hours per week. The laboratory for this course is in Owens Science Hall, Room 380. We will discuss the organization of lab early in the semester. You should expect to devote a significant number of hours (8 to 10 hours per week) to lab during the semester. Again, at least 20% of your final grade will be determined through your participation in classroom and lab .

Following an Introduction, the course will be divided into 3 general sections:

1. Communication within and between neurons
2. Sensory systems (emphasizing visual systems)
3. Neural basis of animal learning, behavior and cognition

It will be a challenge to cover each of these areas in adequate detail -- but we will try to cover as much as we can in the time allowed. With that in mind, be ready to cover some material quickly (for basic content) and other material in more depth. I have organized a tentative schedule which is outlined later in this handout.

The primary text for the course is:

Neuroscience: Exploring the Brain by Mark F. Bear, PhD, Barry W. Connors, PhD, and Michael A. Paradiso.

We will also use a computer-based neurosimulation program to accompany this text and to carry out two assignments. Purchase of the this simulation is not required you may find it useful to work with and review at home. Copies of the text and programs will be available in the lab for use in lab. The computer-based neurosimulation is found in:

Electrophysiology of the Neuron, J.Huguenard and D. A. McCormick, 1994.  (Note: this is sold in both MacIntosh and PC-compatible formats.)

materials related to class before class time

TEST SCHEDULING
The dates of tests are listed on the syllabus and will be confirmed at least 1 week prior to the exam. We can be somewhat flexible about the exact time that you write the test -- but please be reasonable.

Throughout the semester there will be several seminars in the Minn / St. Paul Area that may interest students in the course. Some of these seminars will be part of our departmental series here at UST. You will be expected to attend seminars and turn in notes and reflections (a summary) of the seminar.

In lab we will get acquainted with some of the equipment necessary to observe and record neuronal activity in animal nervous systems. Early in the semester we will perform a couple of simple labs to learn about electronics and the electronic equipment we will use during the recording later in the semester. We will also perform a few neurosimulation experiments using software that will model some of the 'classic' experiments in neurobiology. Toward the middle and end of the semester we will attempt to perform some "wet lab" experiments using invertebrate and vertebrate nervous systems as model preparations. The goal of these labs is to acquaint you with the types of reasoning and techniques used to study nervous system functions. We will not be performing original research projects but we will be carrying out experiments and considering the results and their implications.

It is expected that you will thoroughly read all lab materials provided prior to lab time and that you come to lab both prepared to work and with any questions about the lab. In addition your lab group may also be assigned to make a preliminary presentation at the start of lab to discuss two or three scientific papers dealing with the lab topic for that particular week. The purpose of this brief presentation will be to provide some context for the lab, discuss background readings, and present reference lists and experimental results from other groups that pertain to the lab project planned for that particular week. "PRELAB" presentations will only be required for the several "wet" experimental labs identified on the Lab Schedule. Your group will be assigned a PRELAB presentation date early in the semester.

During the semester two Group Lab Reports are required of each work group. The lab reports must be written as a group -- with each member of the group contributing to its completion. These Group Lab Reports must be submitted to me by May 18. These two. Lab Reports are together worth 15% of your final grade (7.5 % each). The lab reports should be written in "Scientific Format" (referred to as "Scientific Research Paper" format in BIOL 204) and should include an Introduction, Materials and Methods, Results (including appropriate and well-drawn graphs) , Discussion (including how your experiment relates to work done by others - with references), Conclusions, and Reference sections as well as a brief Abstract or Summary. One of your lab reports may be presented as a research talk or poster in the Biology Student Research Symposium on May 14.

Week Lab Topic

1.    No lab
2. Electricity and Basic Electronics: Resistors, Capacitors, Multimeters and Oscilloscopes
3. Electronics, oscilloscopes and stimulators / Neurosimulations
4. Neurosimulations : Amplification & filtering of bioelectrical potentials
5. Electrophysiology of the cockroach ventral nerve cord
6. Vertebrate and mammalian neuroanatomy
7. Neural Lesions? Suprachiasmatic Nucleus Lesions?
8. No Lab: Mid-term Break
9. Frog sciatic nerve: a neuromuscular system
10. Frog visual system: the Electrotretinogram
11.  Olfaction:  Frog EOG
12.  Recording visual responses from the frog optic tectum
13. Continuation of tectum recordings
14.  Finish up
15. Site Visit