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BIOL 422 Neurophysiology

This course will provide a deeper understanding of the physiological properties of the nervous system. We will address the mechanisms underlying electrical activity in neurons, as well as examine the physiology of synapses; the transduction and integration of sensory information; the function of nerve circuits; the trophic and plastic properties of neurons; and the relationship between neuronal activity and behavior. During the semester a few labs will be offered which will apply electrophysiological methods to examine neuronal activity and will include experimental design as well as analysis and presentation of collected data. Throughout the course, we will focus on past and current neurophysiology research and how it contributes to the field of neuroscience. This course is intended as an upper division elective in the Biology Major

Prerequisites

Special information

First day attendance is mandatory.
3 Undergraduate credits

Effective January 8, 2018 to present

Learning outcomes

General

  • Examine neural signals and hypothesize what cellular properties lead to their differences.
  • Assess the function of and construct different theoretical neural networks illustrating their understanding of how neurons work together to process information
  • Critically analyze current literature in the field of neuroscience
  • Formulate a methodology for testing a hypothesis about a behavioral or neural scenario
  • Synthesize information from known scenarios and adapt it to apply to novel situations to determine how to examine a neural or behavioral phenomena.