Courses
Neuroscience
- NSCI-B 101 Exploring the Brain: Introduction to Neuroscience for Non-Majors (3 cr.) This course will help students understand normal brain function and the diseased, drug affected, damaged or cognitively compromised brain. Emphasis is placed on maintaining healthy brain function and maximizing performance. NSCI-B 101 is a non-majors introductory course for first-year and sophomore students. Students planning to major/minor in neuroscience must take NSCI-B 201.
- NSCI-B 201 Foundations of Neuroscience (3 cr.) P: PSY-B 110 or BIOL-K 101. An introduction to Neuroscience that explores how our brains develop, how they work and how they are changed by life experiences. Topics include neural communication, localization of brain function, neural systems and control behavior.
- NSCI-B 301 Systems Neuroscience (3 cr.) P: PSY-B 201 or NSCI-B 201. This course will focus on how our brains allow us to sense, move, feel, and think, with an emphasis on modern concepts and methods in integrative neuroscience. Topics include sensory and motor systems, motivation and emotion, brain rhythms, language, brain development, and learning and memory.
- NSCI-B 394 Drugs and Behavior (3 cr.) P: PSY-B 110 or equivalent. An introduction to the use and abuse of alcohol and other psychoactive drugs. Topics include theories of alcohol and other drug use, neurobiology and the factors that influence use, abuse, and addiction. Addiction assessment, recovery, treatment, relapse and prevention are also covered.
- NSCI-B 398 Brain Mechanisms of Behavior (3 cr.) P: PSY-B 301 or PSY-B 320 or equivalent. An advanced topical survey of the neurobiological basis of behavior, focusing on the neural substrates and the cellular and neurochemical processes underlying emotions, motivation and goal-directed behavior, hedonic experience, learning, and cognitive function. Integrates experimental research across different levels of analysis (genetic, molecular, cellular, neural systems).
- NSCI-I 535 Clinical Neuroscience (3 cr.) P: Consent of instructor. Course will examine how psychology, neuroscience, pharmacology, and medicine come together to manage mental illness. Systematic examination of mental illness and the nature of how biological alterations lead to aberrant behaviors that define psychopathology. The course will heavily discuss the ethics involved in the field of Clinical Neuroscience.
- NSCI-I 545 Psychopharmacology (3 cr.) P: PSY-I 615 or consent of instructor. A survey of the effects of drugs on behavior, cognitive functioning and emotions. Emphasis on the practical advantages of understanding how psychotropic drugs work, and on how the brain functions in health and disease. Students will be exposed to the most current theories and research in the field.
- NSCI-K 416 Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience (3 cr.) P: BIOL-K 324. Course provides an in-depth analysis of topics within the field of cellular and molecular neuroscience. It will cover invertebrate and vertebrate neurobiology, cell and molecular biology of the neuron, neurophysiology, neuroanatomy, developmental neurobiology, regeneration and degeneration, learning and memory, and will include comparisons of neural mechanisms throughout the animal kingdom.
- NSCI-K 417 Neuroanatomy Laboratory (2 cr.) P: NSCI-B 301 or NSCI-K 416. The course goal is to cover general principles of development, gross anatomical structures, blood supply, ventricles and cerebrospinal fluid flow, sensory and motor systems, major nuclei and tracts and histological features. Students will pair anatomical with functional knowledge and supplement with relevant clinical case studies throughout the course.
- NSCI-K 451 Neuropharmacology (3 cr.) P: BIOL-K 324 recommended or completion of upper-level biochemistry course. Focuses on molecular underpinnings of neuropharmacology. Basic principles of neuropharmacology. How drugs bind to their targets. Evaluate how neurons communicate with each other and how those signals are transduced on a molecular level. Evaluate drugs actions in the brain and major neurotransmitters. Neuronal dysfunction in various disorders and pharmacological treatments.
- NSCI-K 488 Endocrinology in Health and Disease (3 cr.) P: BIOL-K 103 and BIOL-K 324 and BIOL-K 322 or equivalent. An introduction to human endocrinology, including the biology of the major endocrine organs and the roles of the hormones that they release. Both normal endocrine function and common diseases involving hormone physiology are examined. In addition, the course examines how endocrinology impacts everyday life.
- NSCI-N 195 Introductory Topics in Neuroscience (0-3 cr.) P: Consent of instructor. Other prerequisites may be announced at the time of the topic offering. Lectures on topics in Neuroscience.
- NSCI-N 295 Intermediate Topics in Neuroscience (0-3 cr.) P: Consent of instructor. Other prerequisites may be announced at the time of the topic offering. Lectures on topics in Neuroscience.
- NSCI-N 395 Advanced Topics in Neuroscience (0-3 cr.) P: Consent of instructor. Other prerequisites may be announced at the time of the topic offering. Lectures on topics in Neuroscience.
- NSCI-N 397 Understanding Drug Culture Study Abroad (0-3 cr.) C: PSY-B 394. Introduction to issues surrounding substance use and mental health in a host country. Emphasis on low-and middle-income countries. Investigate barriers to solving problems of alcohol/drug abuse, mental health treatment and economic and social causal factors. Research addiction issues, examine roles of local and national governments, international agencies, and third-party interventionists.
- NSCI-N 490 Capstone Independent Library Research (3-10 cr.) P: Senior Standing and (NSCI-K 416 or BIOL-K 416). Library Research is done with a faculty member on contemporary issues in neuroscience. This course may include research of a topic agreed upon by the student and the faculty member. A well-written paper between 15-17 pages centered on the topic must be turned in at the end of the semester. Repeatable.
- NSCI-N 491 Capstone Laboratory in Behavioral Neuroscience (3 cr.) P: NSCI-B 201 or NSCI-B 301. Senior neuroscience majors. Enhance critical thinking skills in experimental approaches to behavioral neuroscience, understand translational neuroscience through model systems, advance understanding of quantitative and analytic approaches studying the links between brain and behavior, ability to evaluate and communicate knowledge about neuroscience, develop skills in collaborative learning, generate career development tools.
- NSCI-N 492 Capstone in Computational Neuroscience (3 cr.) P: (NSCI-B 301 or PSY-B 301) and PSY-B 305 and (MATH-I 166 or MATH-S 166 or MATH-I 222 or MATH-I 232 or MATH-I 242) and (CSCI-N 200 or CSCI-N 201 or CSCI-N 207 or CSCI-C 200). How does the brain perform the computations necessary to facilitate the vast array of experiences and cognitive functions that we are capable of? Discussion of approaches used to measure neural activity and an introduction to neural computation. Topics will have broad application across numerous scientific fields from medicine to computing.
- NSCI-N 493 Capstone Independent Laboratory Research (3 cr.) P: PSY-B 305 and NSCI-K 416 or BIOL-K 416 and senior standing. Laboratory Research is done with a faculty member on contemporary issues in neuroscience. This course may include lecture, laboratory, reading assignments and special projects. A senior thesis in the format of a research article or e-portfolio centered on the research must be turned in at the end of the project.
- NSCI-N 495 Special Topics in Neuroscience (0-3 cr.) P: Consent of instructor. Other prerequisites may be announced at the time of the topic offering. Lectures on topics in Neuroscience.
- NSCI-I 544 Sensory Systems (3 cr.) P: BIOL-K 324. Students will gain an understanding of the mechanisms that underlie sensory perception at the molecular, cellular, and systems level. Examination of how forms of energy are transduced into the electrochemical messages of the nervous system, pathways the information travels within the nervous system and how this information is processed/perceived.
- NSCI-I 559 Endocrinology (3 cr.) P: BIOL-I 556 or equivalent and CHEM-C342. The study of hormone function. Consideration will be given to the role of hormones in growth, development, metabolism, homeostasis, and reproduction.
- NSCI-I 560 Clinical and Molecular Aspects of Neurodegenerative Diseases (3 cr.) P: BIOL-K 416 or BIOL-K 451 or equivalent or consent of instructor. The molecular and clinical aspects of neurodegenerative diseases. Introduction of critical brain structures, with a focus on neurons and glia and evaluation of molecular mechanisms that underlie protein aggregation and cell death. The remainder of the course will focus on the multiple aspects of specific neurodegenerative diseases.
- NSCI-I 561 Immunology (3 cr.) P: BIOL-K 103 and CHEM-C 341. Introduction to the basic principles and experimentation in cellular and humoral immunology.
- NSCI-I 571 Developmental Neurobiology (3 cr.) P: Consent of instructor. The major phases of nervous system development beginning with neurulation and neurogenesis and ending with the onset of physiological activity will be studied in a variety of animals, mainly avians and mammals (including man). Neural developmental disorders and behavioral ontogeny will also be considered.
- NSCI-N 496 Clinical Experiential Neuroscience Capstone (1-3 cr.) P: NSCI-B 301 or BIOL-K 324 or NSCI-K 416 with a grade of C- or better and senior standing. Fall. This capstone is designed for students who are interested in health-related professional careers. Students participate in a clinical setting to combine knowledge of neuroscience with internship experience. Students will be evaluated by participation, presentations, and an e-portfolio that integrates undergraduate and capstone experiences with career goals.
- NSCI-N 494 Capstone Teaching Practicum in Neuroscience (3 cr.) P: NSCI-B 301 or BIOL-K 324 or NSCI-K 416 with a grade of C- or better and senior standing. This capstone course is targeted to students interested in becoming an instructor. The student will identify a willing Neuroscience instructor to serve as a mentor and work over a semester in mutually identified areas of interest that will be of service to the Neuroscience learning community.
