Neuroscience
How factors such as age, gender, and social context interact to influence how the authors respond to stressors both physiologically and behaviorally will be explored, and how stress influences mental and physical health.
Abstract
to Own Instruments. New insights into cell function are now possible using technologies that resolve single molecules. However, as devices become more complicated, we are often faced with three questions: What is it that our instruments actually measure; how can we change the instrument to see a new behavior; and, how do we analyze the data to get the greatest insight? We will learn how to answer these questions by designing, building, and using our own electrical and optical instruments, making measurements, and then analyzing the results. Membrane proteins play an essential role in the behavior of all cells. We will study membrane protein channels in synthetic membranes, host cells, and giant axons from squid collected in the waters surrounding the MBL. The movement of electrical charge produced by conformational changes will be correlated with both the current passing thru single channels and structural information obtained from light and electron microscopy. The course will proceed from simple measurements to student-designed projects. use to Introduction to Learning and Memory. 100 Units. This course examines basic questions in learning and memory. We discuss the historical separation and division of these two areas as well as the paradigmatic differences in studying learning and memory. We also discuss basic research methods for investigating learning and memory and survey established and recent research findings, as well as consider several different kinds of models and theories of learning and memory. Topics include skill acquisition, perceptual learning, statistical learning, working memory, implicit memory, semantic vs. episodic memory, and memory disorders. This course examines the biology of pain and the mechanisms by which anesthetics alter the perception of pain. The approach is to examine the anatomy of pain pathways both centrally and peripherally, and to define electrophysiological, biophysical, and biochemical explanations underlying the action of general and local anesthetics. We discuss the role of opiates and enkephalins. Central theories of anesthesia, including the relevance of sleep proteins, are also examined. the its neurobiology. the will discuss how factors such as age, gender, and social context interact to influence how we respond to stressors both physiologically and behaviorally. The course will also explore how stress influences mental and physical