Global Arc

Innate behaviors, whether fleeing from predators, looking for mates, defending territory, or caring for young, are the foundation of life. How does the brain generate these complex behaviors across the lifespan of an individual? What are the links between hormone systems and the generation of survival behaviors? We will look at a range of social and nonsocial innate behaviors, and examine their relationship to neuroethology, endocrinology, and to an emerging understanding of mammalian subcortical circuits for survival. A combination of lecture and student-led deep paper reads and emphasis on modern methods for neural circuit analysis.

This course will address how to find structure and meaning in data. Introductory statistics courses teach the mechanics of testing, while laboratory courses typically produce datasets whose analytical goal is often specified in advance. This course builds intuitions in what to do in the absence of explicit guidance, a relevant skill for any science discipline. Topics include data transforms, finding relationships between variables, understanding when simple tools like correlation and regression will fail, deciding what analysis to do, and graphical presentation. Real datasets will be used to demonstrate principles for discovering insights.

Stress has been linked to a wide range of physical and mental illnesses, yet stress is part of everyday life and most organisms respond to challenges with adaptation and recovery. This course will consider both foundational and contemporary research regarding stress effects on the body and brain with the goal of gaining an understanding of the mechanisms of both resilience to stress and stress-induced pathology. The course will be divided into three modules, each covering basic themes in stress research.

The brain is made up of billions of neurons, each sending and receiving signals from thousands of other neurons. This densely connected network of neurons gives rise to rich spatial and temporal dynamics underlying brain function. This course will investigate these dynamics. The course will present experimental results from large scale recordings together with modern connectomic and cell type analysis that have led to testable neural circuit models that reproduce observed neural representations and dynamics. We will then discuss the theoretical implications of these findings, particularly as they relate to higher-order, cognitive behaviors.

The brain is more than a mere collection of its constituent parts. In this class we aim to understand how neurons interact together in local circuits and distributed brain dynamics to perform behaviorally relevant functions. The class will be organized into modules, which are selected to cover most of the major divisions of the brain. For most modules, we will first discuss a simpler circuit/system for which detailed mechanistic models and concrete ideas about function are known. Then, we will go on to discuss more complex systems, which are related to the simpler system.

Neurodevelopmental disorders,autism spectrum disorders, attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder, developmental dyslexia and dyspraxia, affect approximately 1 in 6 children and present major challenges. We will discuss the neural basis, clinical symptoms and interventional strategies of major neurodevelopmental conditions. Students will have the opportunity to engage in hands-on experience with children afflicted with dyslexia and ASD through observational studies performed in special education schools. The course is aimed at premeds, NEU concentrators, teacher prep program, and students with an interest in clinical applications.

This course provides an overview of the major epigenetic mechanisms of gene regulation and the research tools that are used to study epigenetic modifications in different model systems, including humans. We will explore various topics in molecular and behavioral neuroscience including: developmental sensitive periods during for epigenome disruption by environmental factors, the role of epigenetic mechanisms in the dynamic regulation of adult brain function, epigenetic dysregulation in psychiatric disorders, and the controversial hypothesis that environmentally-induced epigenetic modifications can be heritable. NEU majors only.

Introduction to a mathematical description of how networks of neurons can represent information and compute with it. Course will survey computational modeling and data analysis methods for neuroscience. Example topics are short-term memory and decision-making, population coding, modeling behavioral and neural data, and reinforcement learning. Classes will be a mix of lectures from the professor, and presentations of research papers by the students. Two 90 minute lectures, one laboratory. Basic linear algebra, probability, ordinary differential equations, and some programming experience, or permission of the instructor.

Computational psychiatry is an emerging field of research that strives to leverage recent discoveries in the computational basis of high-level cognitive functions in order to understand, diagnose, and treat mental illness. Psychiatry is the only field of medicine where there are currently no laboratory tests, due in part to a lack of understanding what is the biological basis of symptoms. Computational theories of the brain's mechanisms for evaluation and decision may provide a foundation for such an understanding, and tasks measuring their function can offer objective measures. This seminar will discuss recent findings in this field.

In this course, we will explore the diverse and complex interactions between the brain and the immune system from the perspective of current, cutting-edge research papers. In particular, we will focus on the molecular mechanisms of these interactions and their role in brain development and function as well as their potential contributions to specific neurological disorders, including autism. In the process, students will learn to read, critically evaluate, and explain in presentations the content of articles from the primary literature. Prerequisites: MOL 214/215.