Course Objectives

• To provide a systematic intoduction to the mammalian nervous system, emphasizing the structural and functional organization of the human brain.
• To expose students to the field of neuroscience and some of the neuroscientists at Brown.
• To love life and have a euphorically fantastic time.

Course Content

This course begins with the study of nerve cells: their structure, the propagation of nerve impulses and transfer of information between nerve cells, the effect of drugs on this process, and the development of nerve cells into the brain and spinal cord. We then move to the sensory systems such as hearing, vision and touch and discuss how physical energy such as light is converted into neural signals, where these signals travel in the brain and how they are processed. Next we study the control of voluntary movement. Finally, we cover the neurochemical bases of brain diseases and those systems which control sleep and consciousness, emotion, learning and memory.

Prerequisites

There are no prerequisites for Neuro 1, although a background in high-school biology and chemistry is assumed.

Organization

A. Lectures

All lectures will be given in Salomon starting promptly at l PM on Tuesday and Thursday. Since the lectures comprise the major body of knowledge upon which you will will be examined, attending lecture is imperative.

B. Text

Neuroscience: Exploring the Brain (3rd edition) by Bear, Connors and Paradiso. Text available at the Brown University Bookstore. It will be assumed by the lectures that you have read the assigned readings before class, and you will be examined on the material covered in the reading assignments.

Warning: the reading assignments are substantial; do not put them off until just prior to an exam!

C. Weekly Sections

Each student will be assigned to a weekly section led by two teaching assistants (see the staff page for details). Although these sections are not mandatory, we strongly encourage you to attend them. In fact, as a little extra incentive to attend, we'll take your section attendance record into account if you fall on the border between two grades at the end of the semester.

Sections will start the second week of class and will be held from 7 to 8 PM and 8:30 to 9:30 PM Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. Please follow the link to "This Week" in the menu to the left in order to sign up for section.

D. Questions, Office Hours, Resources

On the this Neuro 1 webpage and the WebCT web pages you will find a copy of the syllabus, information about lectures, exam schedules and grades. Whenever possible, we also post a pdf or powerpoint file for each lecture.

Discussion group: From the Neuro 1 homepage you can navigate to the MyCourses webpages for the Discussion Group. There you can post questions that will be answered by TAs, professors, and maybe other students in the class. We also use the Discussion Group to post corrections or supplements to lectures.

Office hours: If you have questions about a specific lecture, start by contacting the professor who gave the lecture (contact information for all lecturers is below). Drs. Paradiso and Stein are available to answer any questions you have about the course, its administration, the Neuroscience Concentration, and anything else that comes up.

Dr. Paradiso is available Monday 3:30 – 5 or by appointment (email Michael_Paradiso@brown.edu or call 863-1159). His office is 554 Sidney Frank Hall.

Dr. Stein is available Friday 10am – 12 noon or by appointment (email John_Stein@brown.edu or call 863-2263). His office is 354 Sidney Frank Hall.

E. Exams and Grades

•All exams will be multiple choice and short answer format and will cover the material presented in lecture and in the assigned reading unless Dr. Paradiso or Stein states otherwise.

•Please note: There are no make-up exams ! If you are unable to attend an exam for medical reasons, a note from Health Services is required. If you are unable to attend an exam for any other reason, a note from a Dean of the College is required.

Neuro 1 T-Shirts

We are pleased this year to resume the tradition of creating BN1 T-shirts. All students are encouraged to submit art work by Thursday, November 20 at which time we as a class will select one design for the T-shirt. The shirts will be available for purchase hopefully by the last day of class (no more than 10 beans each).

If you'd like to see all of last year's t-shirt submissions, check out the Neuro 1 T-Shirt Archive.

Animaniacs song about the brain

You can appreciate the technical detail contained in this: cute brain ditty.

If you have any questions regarding this page, contact John Stein

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