Neurophysiology

 COURSE DESCRIPTION

This course will introduce students to the fundamental concepts of electrophysiology and the biophysics of excitable membranes. These biophysical principles are the basis for our understanding of how neurons and other cells, such as sensory receptors and muscle or cardiac cells, respond to, generate and propagate bioelectrical signals. The course will begin with basic electronics (e.g. Ohm's Law), progress through the analysis of passive signal propagation (cable equation), energetics (ionic gradients),  and active propagation (voltage-sensitive channels).  In addition, this course will examine the electrophysiology of synaptic transmission whereby the signals generated by one neuron are transmitted to generate the electrical response of the next neuron.  This course will involve mathematical descriptions of the physical processes underlying bioelectric signal generation and propagation, but students will be given careful instruction on these mathematical techniques such that a basic understanding of general mathematics (precalculus) should be sufficient for excellent performance.

Students will be provided with extensive worksheets (download below) that explicitly present the concepts and methods that will be taught in class, including numerous example problems and solutions.  Lectures will refer to material in the same texts required for the Behavioral, Cellular and Integrative Neuroscience core courses, with the intention that no additional major textbook is needed for this course. Students are encouraged to get the supplementary text: Neurons in Action by John Moore, which illustrates many of the processes we will study using computer simulations. This course is complemented by the Neurobiology Laboratory Methods course (NSC4353) but requires no prerequisites such that students from all disciplines are encouraged to participate. Grading will be based upon class participation, two take home exams and a comprehensive final exam. The take home exams are intended as study guidance and will only be used to raise the final score (i.e. if the score on the Final exceeds the scores on the take home exams, the Final exam alone will be used to determine the final grade). This undergraduate course is now a core requirement for the Neuroscience degree.