Excitable Membranes. 1 Credit Hour

Catalog description

This course addresses fundamental mechanisms of cell excitability in neurons and other excitable tissues. The format is a combination of lectures, readings, discussions, a laboratory demonstration, and online simulations (where available). Examples of the latter include activities to simulate the resting membrane potential and action potentials. The module will emphasize contemporary issues in the scientific literature as well as translational science where dysfunction in ion channels underlie common disorders such as Alzheimer's Disease, Myasthenia Gravis, Cystic Fibrosis, Long QT Syndrome, and Epilepsy to name just a few. PHYL 5041 is a co-requisite for Fundamentals of Neuroscience I as it is the first module of that course, but it also can be taken as a standalone one-hour course.