EPIGENETICS AND THE BRAIN

PSYCH 513

Complex social behavior emerges from the interplay of hormones, the brain and environmental signals. Introduces how hormones and neurotransmitters shape brain and behavior in animals and humans. Review the mechanisms by which hormones shape brain sex differences and its consequences on juvenile (i.e. play) and adult behavior. Examine how hormones influence sexual behavior using basic animal models, and extend this to human sex differences, including sexual orientation. Additional topics include how hormones shape competitive and affiliative behaviors, eating disorders, and stress and mental health, as well as how individual variation occurs in response to the changing environment and genetic landscape, including epigenetics at an introductory level.

PSYCH 454

Biological basis of human and animal behaviors, including perception, action, cognition, social interaction and disease. Weekly themes from "Cracking the Neural Code" to "Love and War". Learn, develop and use neural mechanisms to explain and (attempt to) predict what they and others think and do in all facets of life.

GENETICS 525

Introductory course in epigenetics - the layer of chemical information that sits on top of the genome - that switch genes 'on' or 'off'. Will introduce how the epigenome, in collaboration with the genome, controls versatile biological processes and cell fates. Will also cover the latest advances of how humans can control their own epigenetic destiny by lifestyle, diet, and other environmental factors.

GENETICS 520

The genetic basis of nervous system development, structure, function, and dysfunction. Will emphasize both current research findings on the genetic basis of specific neurological disorders, as well as genetic methodologies and experimental approaches used in neurobiological research.

GEN&WS 527

Concentrating social and ecological environments as well as that of the body, focuses on the toxic effects of late industrialism, epigenetics and maternal/fetal health as well as destabilizing ideas about "normal" reproduction. Examine how the possibilities for expanding the scope from maternal/fetal health to "parent/child" health - where kinship is not strictly about biologic belonging or coming "straight from the womb," but also about love and a safe home or chosen family. Undergirding our analysis is an "eco-social" approach, guided by questions of what constitutes "health," access to living a healthy life - in a body and on a planet that feels safe to inhabit.