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This is an intensive eight-week
laboratory and
lecture
course focusing on the neural basis of behavior. The course is intended
for
graduate students, postdoctoral researchers, and independent
investigators.
Limited to 20 participants.
This course provides broad training in modern
approaches to
the study of neural mechanisms underlying behavior, perception, and
cognition.
Through a combination of lectures, exercises, and projects, students
investigate neural systems at the molecular, cellular, and organismal
levels
using state-of-the-art techniques. The eight weeks are divided into
two-week
cycles, providing participants with an in-depth familiarity with
several
different experimental model systems. In the first cycle, students
study a
simple invertebrate model system to develop general experimental skills
in electrophysiology,
neuroanatomy, and quantitative analysis of physiological and behavioral
data.
In subsequent cycles, students work on a series of different
preparations,
providing them with a breadth of knowledge in the field. The list of
experimental model systems is updated year-to-year, but always includes
a
diverse array of vertebrate and invertebrate preparations, chosen to
illustrate
key concepts and novel techniques in the field. The goal of the course
is to
expose students to diverse approaches to the investigation of the
neural basis
of behavior.
Each experimental preparation is taught by a team
of leading
experts, and topics include: the cellular basis of pattern generation,
the
development and neuromodulatory control of cell and circuit
specificity, learning
and plasticity, sensory processing and feature detection, sensory-motor
integration, spatial memory, and social communication. The laboratory
provides
access to many complementary methods including intracellular recording;
single-cell dye-injection; patch-clamp; whole-cell voltage and current
clamp;
analysis of synaptic transmission and plasticity; neural
genetics; quantitative behavioral methods; and computational analysis.
Although
students will use and be exposed to many different techniques, this is
not a
course for learning particular techniques. Students spend a portion of
each
cycle designing, performing, and analyzing the results of their own
project.
These projects offer an exceptional opportunity to combine newly
learned skills
in a creative manner.
In addition to the daily course lecture, the
course sponsors
a weekly seminar, given by invited lecturers and distinguished Visiting
Scholars.
This course is supported with funds provided by
National
Institute of Mental Health, NIH
Howard
Hughes Medical Institute
The Grass Foundation
International Brain Research Organization
2011 Course Faculty & Lecturers:
James Angstadt, Siena College
Vikas Bhandawat, Duke University
Hans Michael Brecht, Humboldt University Berlin
Dirk Bucher, University of Florida
Ronald Calabrese, Emory University
Maurice Chacron, McGill University
Melissa Coleman, The Claremont Colleges
Michael Dickinson, California
Institute of Technology
Clayton Dickson, University of Alberta
David Ellerby, Wellesley College
Serge Faumont, University of Oregon
Eric Fortune, The Johns Hopkins University
John Freeman, The University of Iowa
Kathy French, University of California, San Diego
Jorge Golowasch, New Jersey Institute of Technology
Anne Hart, Brown University
Clifford Kentros, University of Oregon
William Kristan, University of California, San Diego
Gaby Maimon, California Institute of
Technology
Mark Masino, University of Minnesota
Michael Mauk, University of Texas at Austin
Christopher Moore, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Farzan Nadim, Rutgers University
Teresa Nick, University of Minnesota
Brian Norris, California State University, San Marcos
Catharine Rankin, University of British Columbia
Jason Ritt, Boston University
Howard Sirotkin, SUNY, Stony Brook
Wolfgang Stein, University of Ulm
Karel Svoboda, Howard Hughes Medical
Institute, Janelia Farm Research Campus
Lidia Szczupak, University of Buenos Aires
Krista Todd, University of
California, San Diego
Daniel Wagenaar, California Institute of Technology
2011 Visiting Scholars:
Ed Boyden, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Loren Frank, UCSF
Ralph Greenspan, University of California, San Diego
Roger Hanlon, MBL
Nancy Kopell, Boston University
Cynthia Moss, University of Maryland
Steven Reppert, University of Massachusetts, Worcester
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