Bi/CNS 150
Profs Ralph Adolphs
Mary Kennedy
Henry Lester

Neuroscience

Caltech
Fall 2007

Catalog Description

Bi/CNS 150. Neurobiology. 10 units (4-0-6); first term. General principles of the function and organization of nervous systems, providing both an overview of the subject and a foundation for advanced courses. Topics include the physical and chemical bases for action potentials, synaptic transmission, and sensory transduction; anatomy; development; sensory and motor pathways; memory and learning at the molecular, cellular, and systems level; and the neuroscience of brain diseases. Instructors: Adolphs, Kennedy, Lester.

Lectures will be held at MWF 11-12 in the 1st Floor Broad Center Lecture Hall


News

12/7/07Final is now posted.
12/4/07Final review section will be held on Dec 6 at 7 pm in Broad 100.
10/31/07Midterm is now posted.
10/1/07Section assignment is up. Please check here.
9/26/07IMPORTANT! Sign up for the class email list here.

Contacts

Contact information for the following people is on the Instructors & Recitation Sections page.
For most questions regarding the course, email the bi150tas mailing list.
For questions about specific recitation sections, email the section TA.
For issues with the website, email hiroshi.



Course Calendar & Links

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Lecture images are often posted in draft form the evening preceding the lecture, by 9 PM.

Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday
October 1 October 2 October 3 October 4 October 5
Introduction to the course. Membrane structure. Deriving the ionic behavior of the nervous system from first principles. Nernst potentials. The major proteins of membrane physiology.
(Lester)
  Voltage-dependent channels and action potentials. Part I
(Lester)
Electronics Review
(Lester)
Voltage-dependent channels and action potentials. Part II
(Lester)
Chapters 6-9   Chapters 6-9 Appendix A
Broad 100, 7-8 PM
Chapters 6-9
October 8 October 9 October 10 October 11 October 12
Synapses: Biophysical Machines
(Lester)
  Cell Biology of Transmitter Release
(Kennedy)
Discussion Section Organization The acetylcholine receptor and organization of the neuromuscular junction
(Kennedy)
Chapters 10 & 11   Chapters 14 & 15   Chapter 11
October 15 October 16 October 17 October 18 October 19
Inhibition; electrical integration of signals; cable properties of dendrites and and axons
(Lester)
  Dendritic excitability, Inward rectifiers, Glia
(Lester)
Discussion Section
The G protein pathway in neuroscience
(Lester)
Chapters 2 & 12 Problem Set 1 posted by 5 PM   Chapters 13
October 22 October 23 October 24 October 25 October 26
Development of the Nervous sysmtem #1
(Lester)
Problem Set 1 Due at 4:30 PM Development of the Nervous sysmtem #2
(Lester)
Discussion Section
AMPA receptors and GABA receptors: organization of CNS synapses
(Kennedy)
Chapters 52 through 56 Problem Set 2 posted by 5 PM

Chapters 52 through 56

Chapter 12
October 29 October 30 October 31 November 1 November 2
Synaptic Plasticity; LTP and LTD
(Kennedy)
Problem Set 2 Due at 4:30 PM NMDA Receptors; the biochemistry of synaptic plasticity
(Kennedy)
No Discussion Section
(Midterm week)
Anatomy of the CNS
(Adolphs)
Chapters 13 & 63   Chapters 12 & 63
MIDTERM handed out
  Chapters 17, 18, first half of 19
November 5 November 6 November 7 November 8 November 9
The Olfactory System
(Lester)
  The Visual System From retina to visual cortex
(Adolphs)
Discussion Section Visual System; cortical processing and object recognition
(Adolphs)

supplementary video files
Chapter 32 MIDTERM DUE at 4:30 PM Chapters 21 & 27   Chapter 25
November 12 November 13 November 14 November 15 November 16
Vision; the retina and detection of light
(Kennedy)
  The auditory system
(Adolphs)
Discussion Section
The Somatosensory System
(Adolphs)
Chapter 26 Problem Set 3 posted by 5 PM

Chapter 30

  Chapter 22
November 19 November 20 November 21 November 22 November 23
Aminergic Systems, Mood and Depression
(Kennedy)
Problem Set 3 Due at 4:30 PM Schizophrenia
(Lester)
THANKSGIVING HOLIDAY THANKSGIVING HOLIDAY
Chapter 61   Chapter 60    
November 26 November 27 November 28 November 29 November 30
The motor system
(Adolphs)
  Learning and Memory I Types of Memory; non-declarative memory
(Adolphs)
Discussion Section Learning and Memory II Declarative Memory and modulation of memory
(Adolphs)
Chapters 38, 42 & 43 Problem Set 4 posted by 5 PM Chapter 62   Chapter 62
December 3 December 4 December 5 December 6 December 7
Emotion and Social Behavior
(Adolphs)
Problem Set 4 due at 4:30 PM Neurodegenerative Disorders Alzheimer's disease
(Kennedy)
Discussion Section
Final Review
Higher Functions
(staff)
Chapters 49 & 50   Chapter 58 Broad 100, 7-8 PM Final handed out
DUE December 14 at 4:30 PM