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NRSC 200A

Fundamentals of Neuroscience: Molecular and cellular mechanisms

Lecture: TR, 11:00 am - 12:20 pm, 3 cr. 
Prof. Scott Currie, Office: Spieth 2380, Tel: 827-2411 
Office hours: W 2:00 - 4:00 pm

Scott Currie's Neuroscience Faculty page 

GRADING

Take Home Exam 1  (25%)

Take Home Exam 2  (25%)

Take Home Exam 3  (25%)

Term Paper  (25%)

DATES
TOPIC
READING
Sept 26
  • Course organization, Neurons and electrical signaling

Nicholls: 3-22

Oct 1, 3
  • Ion channels

Web Links: 
Erwin Neher & Bert Sakmann 
Roderick MacKinnon - Nobel lecture 2003

Nicholls: 63-97

Oct 8
  • Resting Membrane Potential

Web Links:

Julius Bernstein: pioneer neurobiologist and biophysicist

Nicholls: 99-111, 143-147

Oct 10, 15
  • Action potentials


Web Links: 
  - Bernstein's differential rheotome - 3D rotatable image 
  - Alan Hodgkin & Andrew Huxley
  - Alan Hodgkin's obituary 1998
  - Andrew Huxley - 2007 interview (YouTube) 
  - Reconstruction of the action potential
   - The Brunsviga 20 mechanical calculator 
  - Tetrodotoxin - pufferfish venom
  -  Hodgkin-Huxley model implemented in MS Excel (downloadable)-
   - The Hodgkin-Huxley Model (explained clearly by W.J. Heitler of Univ. of St. Andrews)

 

Nicholls: 113-128

Oct 17
  • Neurons as conductors of electricity


Take Home Exam 1 available on iLearn Oct 17.  Turn in by Oct 22.

Nicholls: 129-141

Oct 22, 24
  • Neuroglia

Nicholls: 159-180

Oct 29, 31
  • Synaptic transmission I:

  - electrical and "direct" (ionotropic) chemical transmission


 

Nicholls: 185-210

 

Nov 5, 7
  • Synaptic transmission II:

- "indirect" (metabotropic) chemical transmission & neuromodulation 

Web Links: 
Alfred Gilman & Martin Rodbell

Nicholls: 213-240

Nov 12, 14
  • Synaptic transmission III:

    - mechanisms of transmitter release 

Web Links: 
    - Presynaptic proteins, synaptic vesicle docking & membrane fusion

    - Bernard Katz, Nobel Prize Lecture (Nobel Prize site)

    - Bernard Katz 2003 obituary

Take Home Exam 2 available on iLearn Nov 14.  Turn in by Nov 19.

Nicholls: 243-271

Nov 19, 21
  • Sensory receptors and transduction I:

    - overview & mechanoreceptors 

Web Links: 
  - Georg von Békésy - Nobel Prize award ceremony speech

  - 2018 Kavli Prize in Neuroscience: A conversation with Robert Fettiplace, James Hudspeth and Chritine Petit

Nicholls: 385-397, 433-436, 453-464

Nov 26
  • Sensory receptors and transduction II:

    - chemoreceptors, thermoreceptors & nociceptors 

Web Links: 
   Our Chemical Senses: Olfaction

   Our Chemical Senses: Taste

    - Taste (Brainfacts.org)

TERM PAPER DUE

Nicholls: 397-404

Dec 3, 5
  • Sensory receptors and transduction III:

    - photoreceptors & retinal signaling 

Web Links: 
 - Ragnar Granit, H.K. Hartline & George Wald

 - Light and Time: The Discovery of a New Photoreceptor System within the Eye (Brainfacts.org)

 - A retinal implant that is more effective against blindness 2018

Take Home Exam 3 available on iLearn Dec 5.  Turn in by Dec 10 (Tues of Finals Week, by 5 pm).

Nicholls: 407-430

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