BIONB 4910 - Principles of Neurophysiology

(crosslisted)
(also BME 4910, ECE 4910) (PBS)

Spring. 4 credits. S-U or letter grades for students outside Neurobiology and Behavior concentration and graduate students, by permission of instructor.

Prerequisite: BIONB 2220 or written permission of instructor. Enrollment limited to: 24 students.

B. R. Johnson.

Laboratory-oriented course designed to teach the theory and techniques of cellular neurophysiology including computer acquisition and analysis of laboratory results. Extracellular and intracellular recording and voltage clamp techniques explore motor neuron and sensory receptor firing properties, and examine the cellular basis for resting and action potentials and synaptic transmission. Lecture time is used to introduce laboratory exercises and discuss results, to supplement laboratory topics, and to discuss primary research papers. Invertebrate preparations are used as model systems. BioNB4910 website

Outcome 1: Students should understand the contemporary experimental paradigms in modern neurophysiology and become technically competent with extracellular, intracellular and voltage clamp recording techniques to explore nervous system physiology.

Outcome 2: Students should deepen their understanding of the ionic mechanisms underlying neuronal excitability and intercellular communication in the nervous system.

Outcome 3: Students should develop their skills in communicating scientific results effectively through written lab reports and oral presentations.

Outcome 4: Students should refine their critical reading skills of primary scientific literature.

Outcome 5: Students should refine their abilities to develop testable hypotheses and become independent scientific thinkers.