Brain and Behavior Course Overview

Oct 4, 2024

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Brain and Behavior - Lecture Notes

Instructor Introduction

  • Instructor: Professor Suzuki
  • Course: Brain and Behavior
    • Fulfills Natural Sciences requirement
    • Focus: Neuroscience, understanding the brain's role in perception, memory, and behavior

Distinction Between Disciplines

  • Neuroscience: Focuses on brain functions, connections, synapses, neurons, and circuits.
  • Psychology: Study of behavior.

Course Overview

  1. Basic Brain Neuroanatomy
    • Study of brain parts, their organization, and 3D structures.
    • Lab: Create a sheep brain-human brain digital atlas.
  2. Building Blocks of the Brain
    • Two cell types: Neurons and glia.
    • Study synaptic communications.
    • Discuss neurotransmitters.
  3. Sensory and Motor Systems
    • Sensory systems: Vision, hearing, touch, smell.
    • Motor system organization.
  4. Higher Cognitive Functions
    • Learning, memory, emotion, language.
    • Final lecture: Neurobiology of love.

Course Goals

  • Inspiration: Discuss Nobel Prize-winning science.
  • Interaction: Encourage active participation and group work.
  • Appreciation: Understand neuroscience in daily life (media projects).
    • Media report and movie project assignments.

Course Logistics

  • Interaction: Engage with classmates and form study groups.
  • Filming: Lectures are filmed for the Open Education Project.
  • Instructor Background
    • Research: Neurophysiology of memory, effects of exercise on cognitive functions.
    • Involvement: Empowering Women in Science, leadership training.
    • Contact: Website, email, and Twitter for course-related updates.
  • Teaching Assistants: Eric Nylund and others.
  • Lecture and Lab Requirements
    • Use Biological Psychology textbook.
    • Attend mandatory labs, including sheep brain dissection and rat behavior lab.

Examination and Grading

  • Exams
    • Two in-class midterms and one comprehensive final.
    • Grading: 70% exams, 5% labs, 5% homework.
  • Final Exam Date: Monday, December 19th.

Lab Policies

  • Mandatory participation in all labs.
  • Accommodations for religious holidays.

Key Class Topics

  • Human Brain Structures
    • Frontal, occipital, parietal, and temporal lobes.
    • Functions: Personality, vision, visual-spatial functions, face processing.
    • Cerebellum and its role in motor functions.
    • Hippocampus and its role in memory.

Neuroscience History and Techniques

  • Neuroscience Illustrations
    • From early visual system drawings (1027) to modern techniques.
  • Phrenology: Early study of brain functions and localization.
  • Golgi Staining: Early neuron visualization method.
  • GFP: Green fluorescent protein for live cell study.
  • Brainbow Technique: Visualizing neuron circuits in color.
  • MRI and Diffusion MRI: Advanced brain imaging techniques.

Case Study: Chuck Close

  • Artist with Prosopagnosia: Face blindness influencing his art.
  • Art Techniques: Using grids to create large portraits.
  • Post-Aneurysm Work: Shift to more colorful, emotional artworks.

Closing Thoughts

  • Encouragement to seek inspiration and interact with course material.