This lab course provides an introduction to experimental approaches in neurobiology. Students are closely supervised in small groups. Emphasis is on molecular, anatomical, and physiological approaches for studying neuronal receptors function. Among the molecular topics to be covered are analysis of cDNA clones, site directed mutagenesis, PCR amplification of DNA and expression of genes in foreign tissues. Among the anatomical topics to be covered are gross and microscopic anatomy of nervous systems, axonal pathway tracing, and immunocytochemical localization of specific neuronal proteins. Among the physiological topics to be covered are intracellular, extracellular and patch clamp recording, as well as the use of computers in the acquisition and analysis of data. This course is intended for students who are currently working in a research lab or plan to engage in research in neurobiology or molecular biology.

Course Requirements:

Grades are based on several discussions/presentations, quizzes, and organized lab notebook, and two exams.

Intended Audience:

This lab course can be used to satisfy requirements for the neuroscience major, the Molecular Cellular & Developmental Biology major, and the Biology major.

Class Format:

The eight hours per week are organized into prep lectures, lab sessions and discussion sessions. Prep lectures are used to introduce methodology and techniques performed in the lab, lab sessions are used to carry out experiments and discussion sessions are used to present and discuss results.