NEURL–UA 100 Introduction to Neural Science Sample Syllabus
Lectures. Mondays and Wednesdays, 2:00 to 3:15
Recitations. 4:55–6:10 Monday–Thursday and 11–12.15 Friday. If you cannot make the recitation for which you are registered, and there is space in another, you can arrange with the responsible TA to switch to a different section.
Office hours. The instructor or a TA will have set office hours every week. You can also see any of us at other times by appointment.
Text. Neuroscience: Exploring the Brain, 4th edition, by Mark F. Bear, Barry W. Connors and Michael A. Paradiso; Baltimore: Lippincott Williams and Wilkins, 2016 (“BCP”). For most purposes the 3rd edition (2006) is an acceptable substitute. Supplementary readings will be distributed via NYU BrightSpace.
Online material. All course information will be distributed through NYU BrightSpace. Lecture slides, additional readings and supplementary materials, and other course information will be available there. Slides will generally be posted before each lecture. Lectures will be recorded through the NYU Course Capture system, and the resulting video and audio recordings will be available through NYU BrightSpace.
Schedule of lectures and readings: Lecture topics (with Readings in Bear et al textbook (BCP)
- Introduction and history of neuroscience (BCP1)
- Structure of the nervous system (BCP7, Appendix)
- Neurons and glia (BCP2)
- Membrane properties of the neuron (BCP3)
- Action potentials and impulse propagation (BCP4)
- Synaptic transmission (BCP5)
- Synaptic integration (BCP5, 6)
- Neurotransmitters and neuromodulators (BCP6)
- Sensory transduction and the chemical senses (BCP8)
- Visual system 1 (BCP9)
- Visual system 2 (BCP10)
- Visual system 3 (BCP10)
- Auditory system 1 (BCP11)
- Auditory system 2 (BCP11)
- Somatic sensory system (BCP12)
- Motor system 1 (BCP13)
- Motor system 2 (BCP14)
- Chemical control of brain and behavior (BCP15)
- Motivation and emotion (BCP16, 18)
- Mental illness (BCP22)
- Language (BCP20)
- Eye movements, attention, awareness (BCP21)
- Development and plasticity (BCP23)
- Memory systems (BCP24)
- Memory mechanisms (BCP25)
- Computational and theoretical neuroscience
Note that the first two-thirds of the course is largely fixed, but some of the topics in the last third vary from year to year.