Sections offered SPRING 2022:
#31239 |
HUI-CHEN LU |
TuTh 1:15 PM–2:30 PM |
S2 102 |
CLASS NOTES: Class meets In Person. For more information visit https://covid.iu.edu/learning-modes/index.html
The brain remains a mysterious organ. To gain powerful insights into neurological diseases and mental-health disorders, such as depression, Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s, and autism, new technologies are evolving that enable scientists to better understand brain function. The Brain Initiative started by the Obama Administration has boosted the development and application of innovative technologies that will create a better understanding of dynamic brain function. This course is not aiming to provide a text-book version of knowledge. Instead, my goal is to get students informed about the new technologies being developed for both scientific research and also for patient care. I also aim to provide students with tool-kits to enable them to navigate the literature and stay tuned-in for new discoveries. This class also aims in training students to be pro in “presentations”, a critical skill set for many career paths.
The general outline of the course is as follows: First, we will go over human brain anatomy and how various systems work together for the brain to function. Second, we will learn how the whole body, such as the vasculature, supports the brain and how the brain is protected from various insults. Third, we will review the key neural circuits that have been identified in mammals underlying sensory processing and cognitive behaviors. Fourth, the general principles on how neural circuits are established and function during development will be presented. In addition, all of these will involve discussion on the various molecular, biochemical, imaging, electrophysiological, and behavioral methods that are used in neuroscience research.
This class will be a discussion-based course with a central emphasis on Neuroscience research and the original literature. Specifically we will examine studies that have been conducted to discover how circuits are established and what mechanisms are employed to refine these circuits according to environmental inputs. In addition to the lectures providing background knowledge, students will engage in the latest scientific discoveries through group presentations of the papers they read. They will learn many novel concepts in brain function and development as well as the practical and applicable research methods that are moving the field forward.
My goals with this class are to equip students with the capability to critically read and evaluate the scientific literature, to synthesize information, and to effectively present scientific research.