From Neurons to Consciousness

Catalog description

NEUR 1500 is an introductory neuroscience course designed for students in the joint Brown-Pfizer Master of Arts Program. It begins with the study of nerve cells: their structure, the propagation of nerve impulses, and synapses. This is followed by lectures on brain anatomy to show how the brain is functionally organized. We then move to the sensory systems such as hearing, vision and touch and discuss how physical energy is converted by each system into neural signals, where these signals travel in the brain, and how they are processed. Next we study the control of voluntary movement. In the last portion of the course we discuss brain mechanisms involved in coordinated brain functions and behavior, including functions of the autonomic functions, motivated behaviors (e.g. eating, drinking), learning and memory, attention and consciousness, and mental illness.