DEVELOPMENTAL NEUROSCIENCE

ZOOLOGY 470

Introduction to the major features and mechanisms of early embryonic development in animals, including (1) the major stages of early development, (2) how form arises in the embryo (morphogenesis), (3) how differences arise between cells in the embryo, and (4) how specific genes control these processes.

ZOOLOGY 555

Developmental anatomy and laboratory manipulations of representative animal embryos used extensively for analysis of developmental phenomena (sea urchins, amphibia, annelids, molluscs, ascidians, insects, chicks, fish, mice).

ZOOLOGY 655

Systematically explores current animal models of human diseases that affect the central nervous system. Topics will include birth defects that disrupt normal brain architecture (holoprosencephaly and neural tube closure defects), birth defects affecting the visual system, and postnatal disease, e.g. neurodegeneration and stroke.

GENETICS 627

Advanced genetics course focusing on genetic mechanisms of animal embryonic development, with particular emphasis on central molecular circuitries that control development and genetic analytical tools used to reveal them. Address topics including maternal and epigenetic inheritance, the egg-to-embryo transition, pattern formation, organogenesis, coordination of cellular and molecular mechanisms, and animal models of human congenital disorders.

NEURODPT/NTP 640

Theory and application of methods in computational neuroscience across various levels of organization from single cells to global brain dynamics and cognition. Computational neuroscience is an approach to understanding the development and function of nervous systems in mechanistic terms at many different structural scales. Topics include biophysical properties of neurons and synapses, neural plasticity, sensory systems, neural circuits, whole brain analysis and modeling, and different views on brain function. Includes primers on relevant computational techniques (ICA, information theoretical approaches, dynamical systems) and a computational problem set. Starts with an introduction to MATLAB (used for problem sets).