Course Schedule

Date Topic Speaker
9/5 Life as Scientists, this Course Ivan, Angeliki, and Ralph
9/8, 9/12 Addiction Nii Addy
9/15, 9/19 Thermosensation Elena Gracheva
9/22, 9/26 Principles of Unique Mammalian Behaviors Marcelo Dietrich
9/29, 10/3 Neurodegeneration Janghoo Lim
10/6, 10/10 Spinal Cord Injury Will Cafferty
10/13, 10/17 GABAergic Neurons and Inhibition in the Cerebral Cortex Mike Higley
October Recess (10/18-10/22)
10/24 This Course so far: General Discussion
10/27, 10/31 Functional Connectivity - Linking Brain to Behavior Todd Constable
11/3, 11/7 Retinal Circuitry Jon Demb
11/10, 11/28 Learning and Decision Making Hyojung Seo
SfN 2017 (11/11-11/15)
Thanksgiving (11/17-11/26)
12/1, 12/5 Computational Neuroscience John Murray
12/8, 12/12 Prefrontal Cortical Mechanisms in Mental Disorders Amy Arnsten
Final Essays Due (12/20)

Course Format

Each topic will be covered during two classes: the first will be a lecture from a Yale faculty member on the state of a field of neuroscience, and the second a student-led discussion of some pertinent literature. The first class will acquaint us with the fundamentals of a particular field and is an opportunity to ask questions about the research topic. The second class will consist of an in-depth discussion of at least two research papers of the lecturer's choice, and will be led by two students. Consideration will be paid to the following questions: What is the objective of this research? How was it—or has it been—accomplished? Is this good neuroscience, or are there weaknesses from which we can learn?

Participation is one of the requirements for the course. Active participation will enable us to learn from one another and to delve into the details of the two papers. In discussing and learning about the strengths and limitations of a particular approach to neuroscience, hopefully we can begin to understand the interesting questions that drive that particular field and how those questions relate to other fields.