BIO303: Neurobiology « The Saylor Foundation

100% Neurobiology

Purpose of Course

Neurobiology is all about the biology of our nervous system, from the spinal cord to the brain—and everything in between. The nervous system allows us to have conscious thoughts, enables us to learn, and gives us voluntary control of our muscles.

Our understanding of neuroscience begins with the ancient Egyptians, who practiced surgical drilling to treat certain neurological disorders. The earliest philosophers believed that the heart (not the brain) was the center of consciousness and intelligence. As scientific knowledge matured and developed, philosophers disproved that belief but discovered that there is much more to neurobiology than “the brain.” Researchers found that there are literally hundreds of billions of nerves and other cells that cooperate and share information to make the nervous system work. Accordingly, neurobiology is an extremely complex field of study.

This course is designed to provide you with an overview of the most important areas of neurobiological study. We will not pay much attention to those aspects of the nervous system that continue to baffle scientists today (and there are many!). After a general introduction and review of pertinent scientific concepts, we will take a look at cellular signaling (the way in which nerve cells communicate with one another). Next, you will learn about neuron development and plasticity, or the ways in which neurons adapt and shape their connections throughout our lifetimes. Lastly, we examine the larger systems of neurobiology, such as the sensory and motor systems, and take a look at the complex phenomena of memory and emotion.

This course features a number of Khan Academy™ videos. Khan Academy™ has a library of over 3,000 videos covering a range of topics (math, physics, chemistry, finance, history and more), plus over 300 practice exercises. All Khan Academy™ materials are available for free at www.khanacademy.org.

Learning Outcomes show close

Upon successful completion of this course, the student will be able to:

Demonstrate an understanding of the basic biochemical concepts pertinent to cell biology.
Identify the basic structure of the nerve cell, the various functions of different components of the nerve cells, and different types of nerve cells.
Describe various different nervous systems.
Describe the structure and function of the nervous systems.
Explain how nerve cells propagate and transmit nervous impulses.
Describe select diseases caused by malfunctioning or nerve cell death in parts of the nervous system.
Explain how the nervous system responds to nerve damage or death and therapeutic measures.
Describe how the nervous system is formed in the embryo and identify the role of various genes and hormonal regulators in that development process.
Describe the structure and function of the brain and spinal cord.
Describe the structure and function of the somatic sensory system and the motor system.

Course Requirements show close

In order to take this course, you must:

√ Have access to a computer.

√ Have continuous broadband internet access.

√ Have the ability/permission to install plug-ins or software (e.g. Adobe ReaderorFlash).

√ Have the ability to download and save files and documents to a computer.

√ Have the ability to open Microsoft files and documents (.doc, .ppt, .xls, etc.).

√ Be competent in the English language.

√ Have completed the following courses listed in “The Core Program” of the Biology discipline as pre-requisites: BIO101: Introduction to Molecular and Cellular Biology and BIO301: Cell Biology; BIO302: Human Anatomy (Unit 5 Nervous System).

Course Overview Expand Resources Collapse Resources

Unit Outline show close

1 Basic Concepts and Introduction
1.1 Chemistry Principles
1.1.1 Chemical Bonds (Polar, Covalent, Ionic, etc.)
1.1.2 Cations and Anions
1.2 Biology Concepts
1.2.1 Action Potential
1.2.2 Cell Organelles
1.2.3 Central Dogma of Biology
1.3 Introduction to Nervous System Cells
1.3.1 Neurons
1.3.2 Neuroglia Cells
1.4 Introduction to Neural Organization
1.4.1 Neural Circuits
1.4.2 Central Nervous System (CNS)
1.4.3 Peripheral Nervous System (PNS)
1.4.4 Effectors and Stimuli
1.4.5 Neuroanatomical Terminology

2 Electrical Signaling
2.1 Electric Potential
2.1.1 Resting Membrane Potential
2.1.2 Relative Ion Concentrations
2.1.3 Nernst Equation and Ionic Basis of Electrical Potential
2.1.4 Ion Channels
2.2 Action Potential
2.2.1 Voltage-Dependent Currents
2.2.2 Sodium and Potassium Channels
2.2.3 Squid Cell Example
2.2.4 Threshold
2.2.5 Depolarization
2.2.6 Refractory Period
2.2.7 All-or-None Principle
2.3 Ion Channels and Transporters
2.3.1 Channel vs. Transporter
2.3.2 Voltage-gated Ion Channels
2.3.3 Ligand-gated Ion Channels
2.3.4 Other Ion Channels
2.3.5 Specificity of Ion Channels
2.3.6 Transport and Maintenance of Potential
2.4 Propagation of Signal
2.4.1 Bidirectional
2.4.2 Unidirectional
2.4.3 Myelin and Nodes of Ranvier
2.4.4 Saltatory Conduction
2.4.5 Safety Factor
2.4.6 Synapse
2.5 Diseases of Electrical Signaling
2.5.1 Tetrodotoxin
2.5.2 Multiple Sclerosis
2.5.3 Channelopathies

3 Synapses and Neurotransmitters
3.1 Overview of Synapses
3.1.1 Presynaptic and Postsynaptic Elements
3.1.2 Directionality
3.1.3 Electrical Synapse Members
3.1.4 Chemical Synapse Members
3.2 Electrical Synapse
3.2.1 Conduction Link
3.2.2 Gap Junctions
3.2.3 Synaptic Delay
3.2.4 Ion Flow
3.3 Chemical Synapses
3.3.1 Synaptic Cleft
3.3.2 Synaptic Vesicles and Neurotransmitters
3.3.3 Quantal Transmitter Release
3.3.4 Recycling of Vesicles
3.3.5 Role of Calcium
3.3.6 Postsynaptic Membrane Permeability Change
3.4 Synaptic Crosstalk
3.4.1 Inhibitory Postsynaptic Potential
3.4.2 Excitatory Postsynaptic Potential
3.4.3 Summation of Potentials
3.5 Neurotransmitter (NT) Categories
3.5.1 Neurotransmitter Synthesis
3.5.2 Acetylcholine
3.5.3 Amino Acids
3.5.4 Biogenic Amines
3.5.5 Neuropeptides
3.5.6 ATP
3.5.7 Nitric Oxide
3.5.8 Cannabinoid
3.6 Neurotrophin Receptor Families
3.6.1 Ionotropic Receptors
3.6.2 Metabotropic Receptor Family

8 Special Senses
8.1 Vision
8.1.1 Eye Anatomy
8.1.2 Image Formation and Accommodation
8.1.3 Rods and Cones
8.1.4 Phototransduction
8.1.5 On-center and Off-center Ganglia Cells
8.1.6 Optic Nerve, Optic Chiasm, and Visual Fields
8.1.7 Cortical Visual Pathway
8.1.8 Visual Cortices
8.2 Auditory
8.2.1 Audible Spectrum
8.2.2 Outer, Middle, Inner Ears
8.2.3 Inner and Outer Hair Cells
8.2.4 Mechanoelectrical Transduction
8.2.5 Integration of Information from Two Ears
8.2.6 Inferior Colliculus and Auditory Space Map
8.2.7 Auditory Thalamus and Auditory Cortex
8.3 Vestibular System
8.3.1 Otolith Organs
8.3.2 Semicircular Canals
8.3.3 Angular and Linear Accelerations
8.3.4 Scarpa’s Ganglion
8.3.5 Vestibular Pathways
8.4 Olfaction
8.4.1 Olfactory System Anatomy
8.4.2 Odorants, Threshold, and Adaptation
8.4.3 Odorant Receptors and Olfactory Receptor Neurons
8.4.4 Signal Transduction of Olfactory Neurons
8.4.5 Central Projections of Olfactory Bulb
8.5 Gustation
8.5.1 Taste System Anatomy
8.5.2 Five Perceived Tastes
8.5.3 Taste Cells and Taste Buds
8.5.4 Distribution of Taste Buds
8.5.5 Supertasters
8.5.6 Transduction of Gustation Signals
8.5.7 Neural Coding
8.5.8 Solitary Tract and Solitary Nucleus

9 Motor Systems
9.1 Lower Motor Circuits
9.1.1 Lower Motor Neurons and α-motor Neurons
9.1.2 Local Circuit
9.1.3 Ventral Horn
9.1.4 Neuromuscular Junction
9.1.5 Somatotopic Organization
9.1.6 Motor Units
9.1.7 Size Principle
9.1.8 Stretch Reflex and γ-Motor Neurons
9.1.9 Extensor and Flexor Pairs
9.1.10 Golgi Tendon Organs
9.1.11 Central Pattern Generators
9.1.12 Lower Motor Neuron Syndrome
9.1.13 Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis
9.2 Upper Motor Circuits
9.2.1 General Upper Motor Control Characteristics
9.2.2 Decussation
9.2.3 Colliculus and Colliculospinal Tract / Tectospinal Tract
9.2.4 Red Nucleus and Rubrospinal Tract
9.2.5 Reticular Formation and Reticulospinal Tract
9.2.6 Premotor and Motor Cortices
9.2.7 Homonculus of Primary Motor Cortex
9.2.8 Upper Motor Neuron Syndrome
9.3 Movement Modulation
9.3.1 Basal Ganglia and Cerebellum Components
9.3.2 Corticostriatal Tract
9.3.3 Globus Pallidus and Putamen
9.3.4 Projections from Basal Ganglia
9.3.5 Basal Ganglia Loops
9.3.6 Spinocerebellar Tract
9.3.7 Cortico-ponto-cerebellar Pathway
9.3.8 Cortical Projections to Cerebellum
9.3.9 Cerebellar Circuits
9.4 Visceral Motor Control
9.4.1 Unique Features of Visceral Control
9.4.2 Sympathetic Division
9.4.3 Parasympathetic Division
9.4.4 Enteric System
9.4.5 Solitary Tract and Autonomic Control
9.4.6 Central Autonomic Network
9.4.7 α- and β-Adrenergic Receptors
9.4.8 Cholinergic Receptors

10 Cortical Brain Functions
10.1 Cortex Overview
10.1.1 White Matter and Grey Matter
10.1.2 Cell Types
10.1.3 Cortical Layers
10.1.4 Cortical Lobes
10.1.5 Brodmann Areas
10.2 Association
10.2.1 Association Cortices
10.2.2 Cortical Input and Output Areas
10.2.3 Contralateral Neglect Syndrome
10.2.4 Deficits of Recognition and Planning
10.3 Speech and Language
10.3.1 Broca’s Area
10.3.2 Aphasias
10.3.3 Wernicke’s Area
10.3.4 Vocal Folds and Speech
10.3.5 Right Hemisphere vs. Left Hemisphere
10.3.6 Sign Language
10.4 Sleep and Wakefulness
10.4.1 Brain Changes during Sleep
10.4.2 Stages of Sleep
10.4.3 Circadian Rhythm
10.4.4 Molecular Basis for Biological Clocks
10.4.5 Neural Circuits of Sleep
10.4.6 Drugs and Sleep
10.4.7 Narcolepsy and Insomnia
10.5 Emotion
10.5.1 Autonomic System and Emotions
10.5.2 Limbic System
10.5.3 Amygdala and Fear
10.5.4 Affective Disorders
10.6 Memory
10.6.1 Declarative and Nondeclarative Memory
10.6.2 Immediate, Short-term, and Long-term Memory
10.6.3 Consolidation and Association for Long-term Memory
10.6.4 Brain Structures Associated with Memory
10.6.5 Forgetting and Amnesia
10.6.6 Alzheimer’s Disease

Unit 1: Basic Concepts and Introduction

In our first unit of neurobiology, we will review some of the fundamental concepts of chemistry and biology that you will need to know prior to learning new material in this course. This unit will also introduce to you the general anatomy and function of neurobiology, from the individual neurons to global control systems. This introduction is designed to help you keep track of how individual topics you will learn about in this course relate to the larger picture.

Unit 1 Time Advisory show close

Unit 1 Learning Outcomes show close

1.1 Chemistry Principles

1.1.1 Chemical Bonds (Polar, Covalent, Ionic, etc.)

Reading: Georgia State University: Hyperphysics’ “Chemical Bonding”
Link: Georgia State University: Hyperphysics’ “Chemical Bonding” (HTML)

Instructions: Click on “Chemistry” on the right margin, then click on the bubble for “Chemical Bonding,” and select any bubble for the chemical bond shown on the webpage to read about it. While this course is not a chemistry course, it is important to understand basic chemistry principles, such as chemical bonds and ionic charges, in order to learn neurobiology concepts, such as action potential and neurotransmission.

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1.1.2 Cations and Anions

Reading: Online Introductory Chemistry: Dr. Volland’s “Ions and Prediction of Ionic Charges”
Link: Online Introductory Chemistry: Dr. Volland’s “Ions and Prediction of Ionic Charges” (HTML)

Instructions: Read the entire webpage linked above.

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1.2 Biology Concepts

1.2.1 Action Potential

Web Media: YouTube: rhabib’s “Action Potential”
Link: YouTube: rhabib’s “Action Potential” (YouTube)

Instructions: Watch the entire video (1:27 minutes). This is an introductory video to action potentials and is intended to provide you with some background information. Action potentials will be more fully covered in subunit 2.2.

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1.2.2 Cell Organelles

Web Media: YouTube: Hilliard1sm’s “Eukaryotic Cell and Organelle Photostory”
Link: YouTube: Hilliard1sm’s “Eukaryotic Cell and Organelle Photostory” (YouTube)

Instructions: Watch the entire video (3:30 minutes).

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1.2.3 Central Dogma of Biology

Reading: AccessExcellence’s “The Central Dogma of Biology”
Link: AccessExcellence’s “The Central Dogma of Biology” (HTML)

Instructions: Read the entire webpage for information on the four steps of transcription of DNA to RNA protein. Make sure to view the image carefully, and click any embedded hyperlinks in the “Legend” section for more information.

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Web Media: YouTube: FreeScienceLectures.com’s “DNA Replication Process” and YouTube: redandbrownpaperbag’s “DNA Transcription and Protein Assembly”
Links: YouTube: FreeScienceLectures.com’s “DNA Replication Process” (YouTube) and YouTube: redandbrownpaperbag’s “DNA Transcription and Protein Assembly” (YouTube)

Instructions: Please watch both videos in their entirety (2 minutes and 3 minutes, respectively).

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1.3 Introduction to Nervous System Cells

1.3.1 Neurons

Reading: How Stuff Works: Dr. Craig Freudenrich and Robynne Boyd’s “How Your Brain Works”
Link: How Stuff Works: Dr. Craig Freudenrich and Robynne Boyd’s “How Your Brain Works” (HTML)

Instructions: Read sections 1-3 of this webpage for an overview of the science behind how the human brain functions.

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1.3.2 Neuroglia Cells

Reading: The University of Texas’s Neuroscience Online: Jack Waymire’s “Ch 8: Organization of Cell Types”
Link: The University of Texas’s Neuroscience Online: Jack Waymire’s “Ch 8: Organization of Cell Types” (HTML)

Instructions: Read the entire webpage linked above.

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1.4 Introduction to Neural Organization

1.4.1 Neural Circuits

Reading: NCBI Bookshelf s version of Sinauer Associates, Inc., Purves, Augustine, Fitzpatrick, et al., editors’ Neuroscience 2nd Edition: “Ch 1: The Organization of the Nervous System - Neural Circuits”
Link: NCBI Bookshelf’s version of Sinauer Associates, Inc., Purves, Augustine, Fitzpatrick, et al., editors’ Neuroscience 2^nd Edition: “Ch 1: The Organization of the Nervous System - Neural Circuits” (HTML)

Instructions: Read the entire webpage linked above.

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1.4.2 Central Nervous System (CNS)

Reading: eMedicine Health: Fernando Dangond’s “Central Nervous System Overview”
Link: eMedicine Health: Fernando Dangond’s “Central Nervous System Overview” (HTML)

Instructions: Read the section titled “Anatomy of the Central Nervous System” (pages 1-3 only). You may want to click on any embedded hyperlinks for definitions of terms and concepts.

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1.4.3 Peripheral Nervous System (PNS)

Reading: eMedicine Health: Fernando Dangond’s “Peripheral Nervous System”
Link: eMedicine Health: Fernando Dangond’s “Peripheral Nervous System” (HTML)

Instructions: Read the entire webpage. You may want to click on any embedded hyperlinks for definitions of terms and concepts.

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1.4.4 Effectors and Stimuli

Reading: PMR Science: Zhi Yan’s “Sensory Organs and Their Functions”
Link: PMR Science: Zhi Yan’s “Sensory Organs and Their Functions” (HTML)

Also available in:
PDF

Instructions: Read the entire webpage linked above.

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1.4.5 Neuroanatomical Terminology

Reading: NCBI Bookshelf’s version of Sinauer Associates, Inc., Purves, Augustine, Fitzpatrick, et al., editors’ Neuroscience 2nd Edition: Ch 1: “Some Anatomical Terminology”
Link: NCBI Bookshelf’s version of Sinauer Associates, Inc., Purves, Augustine, Fitzpatrick, et al., editors’Neuroscience 2^nd Edition: Ch 1: “Some Anatomical Terminology” (HTML)

Instructions: Read the entire webpage, and explore the hyperlinks to Figure 1.9. Which way is up? Simple as this question might seem, you can get different answers if you are upside down or upright. To eliminate ambiguity in phrasing, biologists have developed specialized terms (i.e. superior and anterior) to help you accurately define the location of body parts in relation to one another. It is very important that you know these terms so that you will be able to trace paths or learning positions more easily.

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Reading: PBS: “The Secret Life of the Brain: 3-D Brain Anatomy”
Link: PBS: “The Secret Life of the Brain: 3-D Brain Anatomy” (Adobe Shockwave)

Instructions: Follow the instructions on the webpage to view the neuroanatomy of the brain.

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Note: Which way is up? Simple as this question might seem, you can get different answers if you are upside down or upright. To eliminate ambiguity in phrasing, biologists have developed specialized terms (i.e. superior and anterior) to help you accurately define the location of body parts in relation to one another. It is very important that you know these terms so that you will be able to trace paths or learning positions more easily.
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Assessment: The Saylor Foundation’s “Unit 1 Assessment”
Link: The Saylor Foundation’s “Unit 1 Assessment” (PDF)

Instructions: Please complete this quiz after working through Unit 1. The questions are multiple choice, matching, or labeling diagrams.You can check your answers with The Saylor Foundation’s “Unit 1 Assessment Answer Key” (PDF).
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Unit 2: Electrical Signaling

Our nervous system is amazingly responsive and powerful when reacting to information about the body and its environment. If you touch a very hot object, you instantly feel pain and automatically withdraw your hand. The entire process, from heat sensation to the coordination of motor function, happens within milliseconds—in other words, faster than you can consciously think! This type of speed requires a very fast and strong signaling method known as electrical signaling. This unit explains this process in detail, teaching you how signaling is generated and how it is propagated. You will also learn about a few devastating diseases that occur when the process is compromised.

Unit 2 Time Advisory show close

Unit 2 Learning Outcomes show close

2.1 Electric Potential

2.1.1 Resting Membrane Potential

Web Media: YouTube: Great Pacific Media’s “The Nervous System: Neurons, Networks, and the Human Brain’s ‘Neuron Resting Potential’”
Link: YouTube: Great Pacific Media’s “The Nervous System: Neurons, Networks, and the Human Brain’s ‘Neuron Resting Potential’” (YouTube)

Instructions: Watch the entire 4-minute video. This video covers subsections 2.1.1 and 2.1.2.

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Web Media: Sinauer Associates, Inc., Purves, Augustine, Fitzpatrick, et al., editors’ Neuroscience 4th Edition: “Animation 2.1: The Resting Membrane Potential”
Link: Sinauer Associates, Inc., Purves, Augustine, Fitzpatrick, et al., editors’Neuroscience 4^th Edition:“Animation 2.1: The Resting Membrane Potential” (Adobe Flash)

Instructions: Please watch the entire animation. To begin, either click on “Step Through” or “Narrated.” Then, click the play button on the webpage to begin the video.

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2.1.2 Relative Ion Concentrations

Note: This topic is covered by the video beneath sub-subunit 2.1.1.

2.1.3 Nernst Equation and Ionic Basis of Electrical Potential

Reading: NCBI Bookshelf’s version of Sinauer Associates, Inc., Purves, Augustine, Fitzpatrick, et al., editors’ Neuroscience 2nd Edition: “The Forces that Create Membrane Potentials” and “The Ionic Basis of the Resting Membrane Potential”
Links: NCBI Bookshelf’s version of Sinauer Associates, Inc., Purves, Augustine, Fitzpatrick, et al., editors’ Neuroscience 2nd Edition: “The Forces that Create Membrane Potentials” (HTML) and “The Ionic Basis of the Resting Membrane Potential” (HTML)

Instructions: Read both webpages, click on any embedded hyperlinks, and explore the figures.

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Web Media: YouTube: LLKeeley’s “4. Nernst Equation and Calculations of Membrane Potentials”
Link: YouTube: LLKeeley’s “4. Nernst Equation and Calculations of Membrane Potentials” (YouTube)

Instructions: Watch the entire 3.5 minute video linked above.

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2.1.4 Ion Channels

Web Media: YouTube: Diane K. O'Dowd’s “Membrane Potential”
Link: YouTube: Diane K. O'Dowd’s “Membrane Potential” (YouTube)

Instructions: Watch the entire 2-minute video.

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2.2 Action Potential

2.2.1 Voltage-Dependent Currents

Web Media: YouTube: Garland Science’s “Action Potential” and 1Lecture.com’s “Action Potential Propagation in an Unmyelinated Axon”
Link: YouTube: Garland Science’s “Action Potential” (YouTube) and 1Lecture.com’s “Action Potential Propagation in an Unmyelinated Axon” (Adobe Flash)

Instructions: Watch the linked videos above (about 3:30 minutes and 1:30 minutes, respectively).

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2.2.2 Sodium and Potassium Channels

Web Media: YouTube: APBio Tutorials’ “Nerve Impulse”
Link: YouTube: APBio Tutorials’ “Nerve Impulse” (YouTube)

Instructions: Watch the entire 2-minute video linked above to learn how sodium and potassium channels function during a nerve impulse.

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2.2.3 Squid Cell Example

Web Media: YouTube: Alan Hodgkin’s “Action Potential from Squid”
Link: YouTube: Alan Hodgkin’s “Action Potential from Squid” (YouTube)

Instructions: Watch the entire video linked above (4:20 minutes).

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2.2.4 Threshold

Reading: W.H Freeman & Co.: Life -- The Science of Biology (7th ed.): “Chapter 44: The Action Potentials”
Link: W.H Freeman & Co.: Life --The Science of Biology (7^th ed.): “Chapter 44: The Action Potentials” (HTML and Adobe Flash)

Instructions: Click on each tab for “The resting membrane potential,” and read or listen to its contents. Then, navigate to “page 2,” click on each tab for “The action potential,” and read or listen to its contents.

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2.2.5 Depolarization

Reading: The University of Texas’s Neuroscience Online: Professor John Byrne’s “Ch 1: Resting Potentials and Action Potentials”
Link: The University of Texas’s Neuroscience Online: Professor John Byrne’s “Ch 1: Resting Potentials and Action Potentials” (HTML and Adobe Flash)

Instructions: Read the following sections: “Introduction to the Action Potential,” “Intracellular Recordings from Neurons,” and “Components of the Action Potential.”

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2.2.6 Refractory Period

Reading: Biologymad.com: “Nervous System – Nerve Impulses”
Link: Biologymad.com: “Nervous System – Nerve Impulses” (HTML)

Instructions: Click on the hyperlink titled “Propagation of Impulses,” and read the section “How are nerve impulses propagated?”

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2.2.7 All-or-None Principle

Reading: Biologymad.com: “Nervous System – Nerve Impulses”
Link: Biologymad.com: “Nervous System – Nerve Impulses” (HTML)

Instructions: Click on the hyperlink titled “Action Potential.” Then, scroll down the webpage until you reach the section titled “All or Nothing Law,” and read this entire section.

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2.3 Ion Channels and Transporters

2.3.1 Channel vs. Transporter

Reading: What Is Life: Lukas K. Buehler’s “Bioelectricity of Cell Membranes”
Link: What Is Life: Lukas K. Buehler’s “Bioelectricity of Cell Membranes” (HTML)

Instructions: Click on the hyperlink titled “Membrane Currents,” and read the entire section to understand how channels and transporters work together.

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2.3.2 Voltage-gated Ion Channels

Web Media: 1Lecture.com: “Voltage-Gated Channels and the Action Potential”
Link: 1Lecture.com: “Voltage-Gated Channels and the Action Potential” (Adobe Flash)

Instructions: Watch the entire video linked above (about 2:30 minutes).

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2.3.3 Ligand-gated Ion Channels

Reading: Learner.org: Rediscovering Biology Online Textbook’s “Unit 10 – Neurobiology”
Link: Learner.org: Rediscovering Biology Online Textbook’s “Unit 10 – Neurobiology” (HTML and Quicktime)

Instructions: Read the entire webpage linked above.

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2.3.4 Other Ion Channels

Reading: What Is Life: Lukas K. Buehler’s “Bioelectricity of Cell Membranes”
Link: What Is Life:Lukas K. Buehler’s “Bioelectricity of Cell Membranes” (HTML)

Instructions: Click on the hyperlink titled “Synaptic Transmission,” and read the entire section to learn about the role of other ion channels in the nerve cell.

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2.3.5 Specificity of Ion Channels

Reading: What Is Life: Lukas K. Buehler’s “Bioelectricity of Cell Membranes”
Link: What Is Life: Lukas K. Buehler’s “Bioelectricity of Cell Membranes” (HTML)

Instructions: Click on the hyperlink for “Ion Selectivity,” and read the entire section. Ion channels can be remarkably specific and non-specific,depending on their purpose for the body. For example, potassium channels used in action potential are highly specific to potassium and will not allow other ions to sneak through. This is largely due to the thermodynamic properties of the channel, which is in turn based on the structure of the channel itself. Be sure to understand this connection, noting how structure determines specificity!

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2.3.6 Transport and Maintenance of Potential

Reading: Biologymad.com: “Nervous System – Nerve Impulses”
Link: Biologymad.com: “Nervous System – Nerve Impulses” (HTML)

Instructions: Click on the hyperlink for “Resting Membrane Potential,” and read this section to understand how membrane potential is maintained.

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2.4 Propagation of Signal

2.4.1 Bidirectional

Web Media: YouTube: Khan Academy’s “Neuronal Synapses”
Link: YouTube: Khan Academy’s “Neuronal Synapses” (YouTube)

Also available in:
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Instructions: Watch the entire video linked above (about 16 minutes).

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2.4.2 Unidirectional

Reading: Biologymad.com: “Nervous System – Nerve Impulses”
Link: Biologymad.com: “Nervous System – Nerve Impulses” (HTML)

Instructions: Click on the hyperlink titled “Propagation of Impulses,” and read the entire section. Although we saw this resource in section 2.3.6, work through this content again, paying attention to how the membrane potential over the entire nerve serves to propagate nerve impulses.

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2.4.3 Myelin and Nodes of Ranvier

Reading: What Is Life: Lukas K. Buehler’s “Bioelectricity of Cell Membranes”
Link: What Is Life: Lukas K. Buehler’s “Bioelectricity of Cell Membranes” (HTML)

Instructions: Click on the hyperlink “Axonal Propagation and Myelination,” and read the entire section.

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2.4.4 Saltatory Conduction

Reading: NCBI Bookshelf’s version of Sinauer Associates, Inc., Purves, Augustine, Fitzpatrick, et al., editors’ Neuroscience 2nd Edition: “Ch 3: Increased Conduction Velocity as a Result of Myelination”
Link: NCBI Bookshelf’s version of Sinauer Associates, Inc.,:Purves, Augustine, Fitzpatrick, et al., editors’ Neuroscience 2^nd Edition: “Ch 3: Increased Conduction Velocity as a Result of Myelination” (HTML)

Instructions: Read this section of Chapter 3, click on any embedded hyperlinks, and make sure to click on the figures at the end of the text to enlarge and explore them.

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Web Media: Khan Academy’s “Saltatory Conduction in Neurons”
Link: Khan Academy’s “Saltatory Conduction in Neurons” (Adobe Flash)

Also available in:
iTunes U

Instructions: Watch the entire video (about 12 minutes).

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2.4.5 Safety Factor

Reading: The University of Texas’s Neuroscience Online: Dr. John Byrne’s “Ch 4: Synaptic Transmission and the Skeletal Neuromuscular Junction”
Link: The University of Texas’s Neuroscience Online: Dr. John Byrne’s “Ch 4: Synaptic Transmission and the Skeletal Neuromuscular Junction” (HTML)

Instructions: Read the section on the “Physiology of Synaptic Transmission at the Neuromuscular Junction.”

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2.4.6 Synapse

Reading: Biologymad.com: “Nervous System: Synapses”
Link: Biologymad.com: “Nervous System: Synapses” (HTML)

Instructions: Click on and read the section titled “Different Types of Synapses.”

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2.5 Diseases of Electrical Signaling

2.5.1 Tetrodotoxin

Reading: The University of Texas’s Neuroscience Online: Dr. John Byrne’s “Ch 4: Synaptic Transmission and the Skeletal Neuromuscular Junction” and “Ch 2: Ionic Mechanisms and Action Potentials”
Links: The University of Texas’s Neuroscience Online: Dr. John Byrne’s
“Ch 4: Synaptic Transmission and the Skeletal Neuromuscular Junction”(HTML) and “Ch 2: Ionic Mechanisms and Action Potentials” (HTML)

Instructions: Click on the first link above, then scroll down to section 4.7 to read about the “Iontophoresis of ACh.” Then, click the second link posted above, and scroll down to section 2.5 to read about the “Pharmacology of the Voltage-Dependent Membrane Channels.”

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2.5.2 Multiple Sclerosis

Reading: Imaginis: “What Causes Multiple Sclerosis?”
Link: Imaginis: “What Causes Multiple Sclerosis?” (HTML)

Instructions: Read the webpage linked above.

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Web Media: YouTube: mPenn1’s “What Is Multiple Sclerosis?”
Link: YouTube: mPenn1’s “What Is Multiple Sclerosis?” (YouTube)

Instructions: Watch the brief 2-minute video.

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2.5.3 Channelopathies

Reading: The University of Texas’s Neuroscience Online: Dr. John Byrne’s “Ch 2: Ionic Mechanisms and Action Potentials”
Link: The University of Texas’s Neuroscience Online: Dr. John Byrne’s “Ch 2: Ionic Mechanisms and Action Potentials” (HTML)

Instructions: Read the section on “Channelopathies.”

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Assessment: The Saylor Foundation’s “Unit 2 Assessment”
Link: The Saylor Foundation’s “Unit 2 Assessment” (PDF)

Instructions: Please complete this quiz after working through Unit 2. The questions are multiple choice, matching, or labeling diagrams.You can check your answers with The Saylor Foundation’s “Unit 2 Assessment Answer Key” (PDF).
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Unit 3: Synapses and Neurotransmitters

Returning to our example of heat sensation and the reflexes it elicits, we will now look at synapses and neurotransmitters. Synapses are the communication links between neurons or between neurons and other cells. The human brain alone contains more than 100 billion neurons, and each of those neurons contains numerous synapses, multiplying to a mind-boggling number of neural connections. This unit will first examine the two major types of synapses: electrical and chemical. Compared to electrical synapses, chemical synapses are slower, more varied, and offer signal amplification. We will also learn that, because most neurons have a number of synapses, there are also regulatory pathways that prevent signaling confusion. Lastly, we will cover neurotransmitters, agents produced by the presynaptic cell that initiate actions for the postsynaptic cell.

Unit 3 Time Advisory show close

Unit 3 Learning Outcomes show close

3.1 Overview of Synapses

3.1.1 Presynaptic and Postsynaptic Elements

Reading: Biologymad.com: “Nervous System – Synapses”
Link: Biologymad.com: “Nervous System – Synapses” (HTML)

Instructions: Click on the link above, then on the section titled “Synapses,” and read the contents of this webpage. This webpage also covers sections 3.3.1 and 3.3.2

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3.1.2 Directionality

Reading: Biologymad.com: “Nervous System – Synapses”
Link: Biologymad.com: “Nervous System – Synapses” (HTML)

Instructions: Click on and read the section titled: “So why bother? Why have gaps in nerves?”

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3.1.3 Electrical Synapse Members

Reading: Absolute Astronomy.com: “Electrical Synapse”
Link: Absolute Astronomy.com: “Electrical Synapse” (HTML)

Instructions: Read the entire webpage linked above.

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3.1.4 Chemical Synapse Members

Web Media: 1Lecture.com: McGraw-Hill’s “Chemical Synapse”
Link: 1Lecture.com: McGraw-Hill’s “Chemical Synapse” (Adobe Flash)

Instructions: Watch the entire video linked above (about 1:30 minutes).

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3.2 Electrical Synapse

3.2.1 Conduction Link

Reading: Consortium on Cognitive Science Instruction: Robert Stufflebeam’s “Neurons, Synapses, Action Potential, and Neurotranmission”
Link: Consortium on Cognitive Science Instruction: Robert Stufflebeam’s “Neurons, Synapses, Action Potential, and Neurotranmission” (HTML and Adobe Flash)

Instructions: Read the “Conduction” paragraph in the reading linked above.

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3.2.2 Gap Junctions

Reading: NCBI Bookshelf’s version of Sinauer Associates, Inc., Purves, Augustine, Fitzpatrick, et al., editors’ Neuroscience 2nd Edition: “Ch 5: Electrical Synapses”
Link: NCBI Bookshelf’s version of Sinauer Associates, Inc., Purves, Augustine, Fitzpatrick, et al., editors’ Neuroscience 2^nd Edition: “Ch 5: Electrical Synapses” (HTML)

Instructions: Read the entire webpage, exploring the hyperlinks to figures. This reading also covers section 3.2.3.

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3.2.3 Synaptic Delay

Note: This topic is covered by the reading under sub-subunit 3.2.2.

3.2.4 Ion Flow

Reading: Nature Education: Scitable’s “Ion Channel”
Link: Nature Education: Scitable’s “Ion Channel” (HTML)

Instructions: Read the first two sections, and study figure 1 after the second paragraph.

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3.3 Chemical Synapses

3.3.1 Synaptic Cleft

Web Media: Human Anatomy (Online Learning Center): “Animation: Chemical Synapse”
Link: Human Anatomy (Online Learning Center): “Animation: Chemical Synapse” (Adobe Flash)

Instructions: Watch the linked video above (about 1:30 minutes). This covers sections 3.3.1 and 3.3.2.

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3.3.2 Synaptic Vesicles and Neurotransmitters

Note: This topic is covered by the animation under sub-subunit 3.3.1.

3.3.3 Quantal Transmitter Release

Reading: The University of Texas’s Neuroscience Online: Dr. John Byrne’s “Ch 5: Mechanisms of Neurotransmitter Release: Role of Calcium in Transmitter Release”
Link: The University of Texas’s Neuroscience Online: Dr. John Byrne’s “Ch 5: Mechanisms of Neurotransmitter Release: Role of Calcium in Transmitter Release” (HTML)

Instructions: Read the section on “Quantal Nature of Transmitter Release.” This also covers sections 3.3.4 and 3.3.5.

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3.3.4 Recycling of Vesicles

Note: This topic is covered by the reading under sub-subunit 3.3.3.

3.3.5 Role of Calcium

Note: This topic is covered by the reading under sub-subunit 3.3.3.

3.3.6 Postsynaptic Membrane Permeability Change

Reading: Bookshelf’s version of Sinauer Associates, Inc., Purves, Augustine, Fitzpatrick, et al., editors’ Neuroscience 2nd Edition: “Ch 7: Neurotransmitter Receptor Alter Postsynaptic Membrane Permeability”
Link: NCBI Bookshelf’s version of Sinauer Associates, Inc., Purves, Augustine, Fitzpatrick, et al., editors’ Neuroscience 2^nd Edition: “Ch 7: Neurotransmitter Receptor Alter Postsynaptic Membrane Permeability” (HTML)

Instructions: Read the entire webpage linked above.

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3.4 Synaptic Crosstalk

3.4.1 Inhibitory Postsynaptic Potential

Reading: NCBI Bookshelf’s version of Sinauer Associates, Inc., Purves, Augustine, Fitzpatrick, et al., editors’ Neuroscience 2nd Edition: “Ch 7: Excitatory and Inhibitory Postsynaptic Potentials”
Link: NCBI Bookshelf’s version of Sinauer Associates, Inc., Purves, Augustine, Fitzpatrick, et al., editors’ Neuroscience 2nd Edition: “Ch 7: Excitatory and Inhibitory Postsynaptic Potentials” (HTML)

Instructions: Read the entire webpage, click on any embedded hyperlinks, and explore the figures. This reading also covers subunit 3.4.2.

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3.4.2 Excitatory Postsynaptic Potential

Note: This topic is covered by the reading under sub-subunit 3.4.1.

3.4.3 Summation of Potentials

Reading: NCBI Bookshelf’s version of Sinauer Associates, Inc., Purves, Augustine, Fitzpatrick, et al., editors’ Neuroscience 2nd Edition: “Ch 7: Summation of Synaptic Potentials”
Link: NCBI Bookshelf’s version of Sinauer Associates, Inc., Purves, Augustine, Fitzpatrick, et al., editors’Neuroscience 2nd Edition: “Ch 7: Summation of Synaptic Potentials” (HTML)

Instructions: Read the entire webpage, click on any embedded hyperlinks, and explore the figures.

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3.5 Neurotransmitter (NT) Categories

3.5.1 Neurotransmitter Synthesis

Reading: NCBI Bookshelf’ version of Sinauer Associates, Inc., Purves, Augustine, Fitzpatrick, et al., editors’ Neuroscience 2nd Edition: “Ch 6: Neurotransmitter Synthesis”
Link: NCBI Bookshelf’s version of Sinauer Associates, Inc., Purves, Augustine, Fitzpatrick, et al., editors’Neuroscience 2^nd Edition:“Ch 6: Neurotransmitter Synthesis” (HTML)

Instructions: Read the entire webpage, click on any embedded hyperlinks, and explore the figures.

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3.5.2 Acetylcholine

Reading: NCBI Bookshelf’s version of Sinauer Associates, Inc., Purves, Augustine, Fitzpatrick, et al., editors’ Neuroscience 2nd Edition: “Ch 6: Acetylcholine”
Link: NCBI Bookshelf’s version of Sinauer Associates, Inc., Purves, Augustine, Fitzpatrick, et al., editors’ Neuroscience 2nd Edition: “Ch 6: Acetylcholine” (HTML)

Instructions: Read the entire webpage, click on the embedded hyperlinks, and explore the figures.

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Web Media: Sinauer Associates, Inc., Neuroscience 4th Edition: “Animation 6.1 Neurotransmitter Pathways: Acetylcholine”
Link:Sinauer Associates, Inc., Neuroscience 4^th Edition: “Animation 6.1 Neurotransmitter Pathways: Acetylcholine” (Abobe Flash)

Instructions: Watch the entire animation. Click on Step-Through or Narrated to begin the animation, and then follow the instructions on the webpage to work through “Synthesis,” “Distribution,” and “Pharmacology.”

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3.5.3 Amino Acids

Reading: NCBI Bookshelf’s version of Sinauer Associates, Inc., Purves, Augustine, Fitzpatrick, et al., editors’ Neuroscience 2nd Edition: “Ch 6: GABA and Glycine” and “Glutamate”
Links: NCBI Bookshelf’sversion of Sinauer Associates, Inc., Purves, Augustine, Fitzpatrick, et al., editors’Neuroscience 2nd Edition: “Ch 6: GABA and Glycine” (HTML) and “Glutamate” (HTML)

Instructions: Read the both webpages in their entirety, click on any embedded hyperlinks, and explore all figures. In addition to standard amino acids like glycine and glutamate, this category also includes GABA (gamma-aminobutyric acid). GABA is a very important NT—you should know about its functions!

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3.5.4 Biogenic Amines

Reading: NCBI Bookshelf’s version of Sinauer Associates, Inc., Purves, Augustine, Fitzpatrick, et al., editors’ Neuroscience 2nd Edition: “Ch 6: The Biogenic Amines”
Link: NCBI Bookshelf’s version of Sinauer Associates, Inc., Purves, Augustine, Fitzpatrick, et al., editors’ Neuroscience 2nd Edition: “Ch 6: The Biogenic Amines” (HTML)

Instructions: Read the entire webpage, click on any embedded hyperlinks, and explore all figures. This category includes a functionally diverse but similarly-structured group comprised of dopamine, epinephrine, histamine, and serotonin. Be sure to know the differences between these molecules!

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3.5.5 Neuropeptides

Reading: Neuropeptides.net: All about Neuropeptides.
Link: Neuropeptides.net: All about Neuropeptides (HTML)

Instructions: Read the entire webpage to learn about the function, characteristics, and benefits of neuropeptides.

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Reading: NCBI Bookshelf’s version of Sinauer Associates, Inc., Purves, Augustine, Fitzpatrick, et al., editors’ Neuroscience 2nd Edition: “Ch 6: Neuropeptides Figure”
Link: NCBI Bookshelf’s version of Sinauer Associates, Inc., Purves, Augustine, Fitzpatrick, et al., editors’ Neuroscience 2nd Edition: “Ch 6: Neuropeptides Figure” (HTML)

Instructions: Please review the figure of neuropeptides on this webpage.

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3.5.6 ATP

Reading: NCBI Bookshelf’s version of Sinauer Associates, Inc., Purves, Augustine, Fitzpatrick, et al., editors’ Neuroscience 2nd Edition: “Ch 6: ATP and Other Purines”
Link: NCBI Bookshelf’s version of Sinauer Associates, Inc., Purves, Augustine, Fitzpatrick, et al., editors’ Neuroscience 2nd Edition: “Ch 6: ATP and Other Purines” (HTML)

Instructions: Read the entire webpage.

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3.5.7 Nitric Oxide

Reading: NCBI Bookshelf’s version of Sinauer Associates, Inc., Purves, Augustine, Fitzpatrick, et al., editors’ Neuroscience 2nd Edition: “Ch 8: Second Messenger”
Link: NCBI Bookshelf’s version of Sinauer Associates, Inc., Purves, Augustine, Fitzpatrick, et al., editors’ Neuroscience 2nd Edition: “Ch 8: Second Messenger” (HTML)

Instructions: Scroll down and read the paragraph for “Nitric Oxide.”

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3.5.8 Cannabinoid

Reading: Oxford Journals: Brain – A Journal of Neurobiology: Leslie Iversen’s “Cannabis and the Brain”
Link: Oxford Journals: Brain – A Journal of Neurobiology: Leslie Iversen’s “Cannabis and the Brain” (HTML)

Also available in:
PDF

Instructions: Read the entire webpage linked above.

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3.6 Neurotrophin Receptor Families

Web Media: Sinauer Associates, Inc: Purves, Augustine, Fitzpatrick, et al., editors’ Neuroscience, 4th Ed.: “Ch 5 – Ionotropic and Metatropic Receptors”
Link: Sinauer Associates, Inc.: Purves, Augustine, Fitzpatrick, et al., editors’ Neuroscience, 4^th Ed.: “Ch 5 – Ionotropic and Metatropic Receptors” (Adobe Flash)

Instructions: Click the “narrated” link, and watch the animation. This resource also covers sections 3.6.1 and 3.6.2.

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3.6.1 Ionotropic Receptors

Note: This topic is covered by the animation linked under subunit 3.6.

3.6.2 Metabotropic Receptor Family

Note: This topic is covered by the animation linked under subunit 3.6.

Assessment: The Saylor Foundation’s “Unit 3 Assessment”
Link: The Saylor Foundation's “Unit 3 Assessment” (PDF)

Instructions: Please complete this quiz after working through Unit 3. The questions are either multiple choice, matching, or labeling diagrams. Your answers can be checked against The Saylor Foundation's "Unit 3 Assessment Answer Key" (PDF). This assessment will take roughly 30 minutes to complete.
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Unit 4: Neural Plasticity and Repair

Plasticity is the process by which neurons change and connect as a result of new experiences. It is most evident in infancy and childhood, where the growing brain will rapidly learn new skills and acquire knowledge. The adult brain, although less able to adapt, is able to form new memories throughout its lifetime thanks to plasticity. Neural repair reshapes connections, though this process is much more varied. Researchers continue to deepen their appreciation for the importance of plasticity in adults as they seek clues as to how the brain and spinal cord recover from injury. This unit will study plasticity in growing and injured neurons and discuss the leading theories explaining how neurons adapt.

Unit 4 Time Advisory show close

Unit 4 Learning Outcomes show close

4.1 Critical Periods

4.1.1 Language Development

Reading: NCBI Bookshelf’s version of Sinauer Associates, Inc., Purves, Augustine, Fitzpatrick, et al., editors’ Neuroscience, 2nd Edition: “Ch 24: The Development of Language: A Critical Period in Humans”
Link: NCBI Bookshelf’s version of Sinauer Associates, Inc., Purves, Augustine, Fitzpatrick, et al., editors’ Neuroscience, 2nd Edition: “Ch 24: The Development of Language: A Critical Period in Humans” (HTML)

Instructions: Read the webpage linked above.

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4.1.2 Visual System Development

Reading: NCBI Bookshelf’s version of Sinauer Associates, Inc., Purves, Augustine, Fitzpatrick, et al., editors’ Neuroscience, 2nd Edition: “Ch 24: Critical Periods of Visual System Development”
Link: NCBI Bookshelf’s version of Sinauer Associates, Inc., Purves, Augustine, Fitzpatrick, et al., editors’ Neuroscience, 2nd Edition: “Ch 24: Critical Periods of Visual System Development” (HTML)

Instructions: Read the entire webpage.

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4.2 Hebb’s Postulate

4.2.1 Long-term Potentiation

Reading: NCBI Bookshelf’s version of Sinauer Associates, Inc., Purves, Augustine, Fitzpatrick, et al., editors’ Neuroscience, 2nd Edition: “Ch 25: Long-term Synaptic Potentiation”
Link: NCBI Bookshelf’s version of Sinauer Associates, Inc., Purves, Augustine, Fitzpatrick, et al., editors’ Neuroscience, 2nd Edition: “Ch 25: Long-term Synaptic Potentiation” (HTML)

Instructions: Read the entire webpage linked above.

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4.2.2 Cooperation and Competition

Reading: NCBI Bookshelf’s version of Sinauer Associates, Inc., Purves, Augustine, Fitzpatrick, et al., editors’ Neuroscience, 2nd Edition: “Ch 24: Mechanism by Which Neuronal Activity Affects the Development of Neural Circuits”
Link: NCBI Bookshelf’s version of Sinauer Associates, Inc., Purves, Augustine, Fitzpatrick, et al., editors’ Neuroscience, 2nd Edition: “Ch 24: Mechanism by Which Neuronal Activity Affects the Development of Neural Circuits” (HTML)

Instructions: Read the entire webpage.

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4.3 Neuronal Death in Injury

4.3.1 Apoptosis and Necrosis

Reading: Reading: The University of Texas’s Neuroscience Online: Dr. Pramod Dash’s “Ch 12: Neurotransmitter and Cell Death”
Link: The University of Texas’s Neuroscience Online: Dr. Pramod Dash’s “Ch 12: Neurotransmitter and Cell Death” (HTML and Adobe Flash)

Instructions: Read the sections titled “Proteolytic Mechanisms of Cell Death” and “Secondary Injury.” Apoptosis is cell suicide, where as necrosis is unintentional cell death. Necrosis activates major inflammatory pathways and results in a host of other problems that apoptosis does not incur. Be sure to understand how and why one occurs and not the other.

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4.3.2 Anterograde Degeneration

Reading: The Saylor Foundation’s "Wallerian Degeneration"
Link: The Saylor Foundation’s “Wallerian Degeneration” (PDF)

Instructions: Please download the reading linked above. Make sure to pay close attention to the figure provided.
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4.3.3 Retrograde Degeneration

Reading: The Saylor Foundation’s “Retrograde Degeneration”
Link: The Saylor Foundation’s “Retrograde Degeneration” (PDF)

Instructions: Please download the reading linked above. Make sure to pay close attention to the figure provided
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4.3.4 Transneuronal Degeneration

Reading: The University of Texas’s Neuroscience Online: Dr. Andrew Bean’s “Ch 9: “Synapse Formation, Survival, and Elimination”
Link: The University of Texas’s Neuroscience Online: Dr. Andrew Bean’s “Ch9: Synapse Formation, Survival, and Elimination” (HTML and Adobe Flash)

Instructions: Read the section titled “Neurons of the CNS Have Very Limited Capacity to Regenerate.”

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4.3.5 Excitotoxicity

Reading: Psychiatrist.com: Dr. Stephen M. Stahl’s “Excitotoxicity and Neuroprotection”
Link: Psychiatrist.com: Dr. Stephen M. Stahl’s “Excitotoxicity and Neuroprotection” (HTML)

Instructions: Read the entire webpage.

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4.4 Brain Repair

4.4.1 Axonal Regrowth

Reading: NCBI Bookshelf’s version of Sinauer Associates, Inc., Purves, Augustine, Fitzpatrick, et al., editors’ Neuroscience, 2nd Edition: “Ch 1: The Organization of the Nervous System – Recovery from Neural Injury”
Link: NCBI Bookshelf’s version of Sinauer Associates, Inc., Purves, Augustine, Fitzpatrick, et al., editors’ Neuroscience, 2nd Edition: “Ch 1: The Organization of the Nervous System – Recovery from Neural Injury” (HTML)

Instructions: Read the entire webpage, click on the embedded hyperlinks, and explore all figures. This reading also covers section 4.4.2 and 4.5.2.

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4.4.2 CNS Damage Repair

Note: This topic is covered in the reading under subunit 4.4.1.

4.4.3 Stem Cell Replacement

Reading: NCBI Bookshelf: NeuroRX: Olle Lindvall and Anders Bjorklund’s (guest editors) Cell Replacement Therapy – “Helping the Brain to Repair Itself”
Link: NCBI Bookshelf: NeuroRX: Olle Lindvall and Anders Bjorklund’s (guest editors) Cell Replacement Therapy – “Helping the Brain to Repair Itself” (HTML)

Instructions: Read the entire webpage for an overview of cell replacement therapy in relation to the human brain.

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4.5 PNS Repair

4.5.1 Peripheral Nerve Regeneration

Reading: The University of Texas’s Neuroscience Online: Professor Andrew Bean’s “Ch 9: Synapse Formation, Survival, and Elimination”
Link: The University of Texas’s Neuroscience Online: Professor Andrew Bean’s “Ch 9: Synapse Formation, Survival, and Elimination” (HTML and Adobe Flash)

Instructions: Read the section titled “Neurons in the Peripheral Nervous System Can Regenerate Their Axons.”

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4.5.2 Regeneration of Peripheral Synapses

Reading: The University of Texas’s Neuroscience Online: Professor Andrew Bean’s “Ch 9: “Synapse Formation, Survival, and Elimination”
Link: The University of Texas’s Neuroscience Online: Professor Andrew Bean’s “Ch 9: Synapse Formation, Survival, and Elimination” (HTML and Adobe Flash)

Instructions: Read the section on “Neuronal Regeneration.” This also covers section 4.5.3.

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4.5.3 Schwann Cells and Macrophage Repair

Note: This topic is covered by the reading under sub-subunit 4.5.2.

Assessment: The Saylor Foundation’s “Unit 4 Assessment”
Link: The Saylor Foundation's “Unit 4 Assessment” (PDF)

Instructions: Please complete this quiz after working through Unit 3. The questions are either multiple choice, matching, or labeling diagrams. Your answers can be checked against The Saylor Foundation's "Unit 4 Assessment Answer Key" (PDF). This assessment will take roughly 30 minutes to complete.
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Unit 5: Neural Development

The nervous system, elaborate and complicated as it is, developed from a single cell. This unit will cover the major concepts behind the remarkable process of neural development. This unit’s information draws heavily from the developmental biology course; if you are interested in development, you should consider enrolling in that course as well.

You will learn that the growth process begins with neurulation and neural tube formation and continues along a very fast path. It involves a huge number of different types of cells and signals but we will cover only those that have the most significant impact. Finally, we will examine some birth defects that arise from improper development.

Unit 5 Time Advisory show close

Unit 5 Learning Outcomes show close

5.1 Gastrulation and Neurulation

5.1.1 Notochord

Reading: Kenyon College: Life – The Science of Biology 6th Ed.: “Chapter 14: Gastrulation and Neurulation”
Link: Kenyon College: Life – The Science of Biology 6^th Ed.: “Chapter 14: Gastrulation and Neurulation” (HTML and Quicktime)

Instructions: Read the sections on “Gastrulation,” “Gastrulation in Birds and Mammals,” and “Neurulation.”

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5.1.2 Primitive Streak and Pit

Reading: NCBI Bookshelf’s version of Sinauer Associates, Inc., Purves, Augustine, Fitzpatrick, et al., editors’ Neuroscience, 2nd Edition: “Ch 22: The Initial Formation of the Nervous System: Gastrulation and Neurulation”
Link: NCBI Bookshelf’s version of Sinauer Associates, Inc., Purves, Augustine, Fitzpatrick, et al., editors’ Neuroscience, 2nd Edition: “Ch 22: The Initial Formation of the Nervous System: Gastrulation and Neurulation” (HTML)

Instructions: Read the entire webpage.

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5.1.3 Retinoic Acid

Reading: NCBI Bookshelf’s version of Sinauer Associates, Inc., Purves, Augustine, Fitzpatrick, et al., editors’ Neuroscience, 2nd Edition: “Box A – Retinoic Acid: Teratogen and Induction Signal”
Link: NCBI Bookshelf’s version of Sinauer Associates, Inc., Purves, Augustine, Fitzpatrick, et al., editors’ Neuroscience, 2nd Edition: “Box A – Retinoic Acid: Teratogen and Induction Signal” (HTML)

Instructions: Read the entire webpage, and carefully view the images. Vitamin A is essential for the normal development of vertebrate embryos. If a developing embryo is deprived of vitamin A, the fetus, particularly the fetal brain, will not form correctly. Vitamin A itself is not directly responsible for the regulation of embryonic development. Vitamin A is metabolized to form RETINOIC ACID. Retinoic acid is essential in determining position along the embryonic anterior/posterior axis and the dorsal/ventral axis. The biological importance of retinoic acid has long been known, as major developmental abnormalities follow retinoic acid deprivation or exposure to excess retinoic acid. Some of these abnormalities resemble congenital birth defects that are relatively common in humans, including spina bifida and cleft palate.

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5.1.4 Growth Factors, Bone Morphogenetic Proteins (BMPs), and Sonic Hedgehog (Shh)

Reading: NCBI Bookshelf’s version of Sinauer Associates, Inc., Purves, Augustine, Fitzpatrick, et al., editors’ Neuroscience, 2nd Edition: “Ch 22: The Molecular Basis of Neural Induction”
Link: NCBI Bookshelf’sversion of Sinauer Associates, Inc., Purves, Augustine, Fitzpatrick, et al., editors’ Neuroscience, 2nd Edition: “Ch 22: The Molecular Basis of Neural Induction” (HTML)

Instructions: Read the entire webpage. Note that you have already reviewed Box A in the previous subunit 5.1.3. You may want to spend some time re-reviewing this figure. Make sure to also click on the link to and explore Figure 22.3.

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5.2 Major Subdivision

5.2.1 Prosencephalon

Reading: The University of Texas’s Neuroscience Online: Dr. Dafny’s “Ch 1: Overview of the Nervous System”
Link: The University of Texas’s Neuroscience Online: Dr. Dafny’s “Ch 1: Overview of the Nervous System” (HTML)

Instructions: Read Chapter 1 in its entirety. This reading also covers subunits 5.2.2 and 5.2.3.

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5.2.2 Mesencephalon

Note: This topic is covered by the reading under sub-subunit 5.2.1.

5.2.3 Rhombencephalon

Note: This topic is covered by the reading under sub-subunit 5.2.1.

5.2.4 Spinal Cord

Reading: The University of Texas’s Neuroscience Online: Dr. Nachum Dafny’s “Ch 3: Anatomy of the Spinal Cord”
Link: The University of Texas’s Neuroscience Online: Dr. Nachum Dafny’s “Ch 3: Anatomy of the Spinal Cord” (HTML)

Instructions: Read all 4 pages of the chapter.

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Reading: Temple University’s Neuroanatomy Lab Resource Appendices: “Neuroembryology”
Link: Temple University’s Neuroanatomy Lab Resource Appendices: “Neuroembryology” (HTML)

Instructions: Read both pages of this link. Make sure to click on the hyperlink labeled “Click here to move on to the next page” to move on to the second page of the article.

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5.2.5 Homeotic Genes

Reading: NCBI Bookshelf’s version of Sinauer Associates, Inc., Purves, Augustine, Fitzpatrick, et al., editors’ Neuroscience, 2nd Edition: “Box B – Homeotic Genes and Human Brain Development”
Link: NCBI Bookshelf’s version of Sinauer Associates, Inc., Purves, Augustine, Fitzpatrick, et al., editors’ Neuroscience, 2nd Edition: “Box B – Homeotic Genes and Human Brain Development” (HTML)

Instructions: Read the entire webpage.

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5.2.6 Rhombomeres

Reading: NCBI Bookshelf’s version of Sinauer Associates, Inc., Purves, Augustine, Fitzpatrick, et al., editors’ Neuroscience, 2nd Edition: “Box C – Rhombomeres”
Link: NCBI Bookshelf’s version of Sinauer Associates, Inc., Purves, Augustine, Fitzpatrick, et al., editors’ Neuroscience, 2nd Edition: “Box C – Rhombomeres” (HTML)

Instructions: Read the entire webpage, and view the images carefully.

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5.3 Neuronal Differentiation

5.3.1 Neurogenesis

Reading: NCBI Bookshelf’s version of Sinauer Associates, Inc., Purves, Augustine, Fitzpatrick, et al., editors’ Neuroscience, 2nd Edition: “Ch 22: The Initial Differentiation of Neurons and Glia”
Link: NCBI Bookshelf’s version of Sinauer Associates, Inc., Purves, Augustine, Fitzpatrick, et al., editors’ Neuroscience, 2nd Edition: “Ch 22: The Initial Differentiation of Neurons and Glia” (HTML)

Instructions: Read the entire webpage, and click on the hyperlinks to read Box D, Figure 22.6, and Figure 22.7.

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5.3.2 Neural Crest Cells

Reading: NCBI Bookshelf’s version of Sinauer Associates, Inc., Purves, Augustine, Fitzpatrick, et al., editors’ Neuroscience, 2nd Edition: “Ch 22: The Initial Formation of the Nervous System: Gastrulation and Neurulation”
Link: NCBI Bookshelf’s version of Sinauer Associates, Inc., Purves, Augustine, Fitzpatrick, et al., editors’ Neuroscience, 2nd Edition: “Ch 22: The Initial Formation of the Nervous System: Gastrulation and Neurulation” (HTML)

Instructions: You have read this website in Subunit 5.1.2, but to focus on neural crest cells, please read the third paragraph, and click on the hyperlink to Figure 22.2.

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5.4 Neural Circuit Formation

5.4.1 Axonal Growth Cone

Reading: NCBI Bookshelf’s version of Sinauer Associates, Inc., Purves, Augustine, Fitzpatrick, et al., editors’ Neuroscience, 2nd Edition: “Ch 23: The Axonal Growth Cone”
Link: NCBI Bookshelf’s version of Sinauer Associates, Inc., Purves, Augustine, Fitzpatrick, et al., editors’ Neuroscience, 2nd Edition: “Ch 23: The Axonal Growth Cone” (HTML)

Instructions: Read the entire webpage, and click on the hyperlinks to the figures.

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5.4.2 Chemoattraction and Repulsion

Reading: NCBI Bookshelf’s version of Sinauer Associates, Inc., Purves, Augustine, Fitzpatrick, et al., editors’ Neuroscience, 2nd Edition: “Ch 23: Diffusible Signals for Axon Guidance: Chemoattraction and Repulsion”
Link: NCBI Bookshelf’s version of Sinauer Associates, Inc., Purves, Augustine, Fitzpatrick, et al., editors’ Neuroscience, 2nd Edition: “Ch 23: Diffusible Signals for Axon Guidance: Chemoattraction and Repulsion” (HTML)

Instructions: Read the entire webpage, and click on the hyperlinks to the figures.

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5.4.3 Topographic Maps and Chemoaffinity Hypothesis

Reading: NCBI Bookshelf’s version of Sinauer Associates, Inc., Purves, Augustine, Fitzpatrick, et al., editors’ Neuroscience, 2nd Edition: “Ch 23: The Formation of Topographic Maps”
Link: NCBI Bookshelf’s version of Sinauer Associates, Inc., Purves, Augustine, Fitzpatrick, et al., editors’ Neuroscience, 2nd Edition: “Ch 23: The Formation of Topographic Maps” (HTML)

Instructions: Read the entire webpage, and click on the hyperlinks to the figures.

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5.4.4 Neurotrophic Factors

Reading: NCBI Bookshelf’s version of Sinauer Associates, Inc., Purves, Augustine, Fitzpatrick, et al., editors’ Neuroscience, 2nd Edition: “Ch 23: Trophic Interactions and the Ultimate Size of Neuronal Populations”
Link: NCBI Bookshelf’s version of Sinauer Associates, Inc., Purves, Augustine, Fitzpatrick, et al., editors’ Neuroscience, 2nd Edition: “Ch 23: Trophic Interactions and the Ultimate Size of Neuronal Populations” (HTML)

Instructions: Read the entire webpage, and click on the hyperlinks to the figures.

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5.4.5 Selective Synapse Formation

Reading: NCBI Bookshelf’s version of Sinauer Associates, Inc., Purves, Augustine, Fitzpatrick, et al., editors’ Neuroscience, 2nd Edition: “Ch 23: Selective Synapse Formation”
Link: NCBI Bookshelf’s version of Sinauer Associates, Inc., Purves, Augustine, Fitzpatrick, et al., editors’ Neuroscience, 2nd Edition: “Ch 23: Selective Synapse Formation” (HTML)

Instructions: Read the entire webpage, and click on the hyperlinks to the figures.

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5.5 Altered Development

5.5.1 Fragile-X Syndrome

Reading: The National Fragile-X Foundation: "Fragile X-associated Disorders”
Link: The National Fragile-X Foundation: "Fragile X-associated Disorders" (HTML)

Instructions: Read the entire webpage and click on the links to Fragile X syndrome, and Fragile X-associated Tremor/Ataxia Syndrome. Please note that you are not required to fill out any information for the free brochure.

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5.5.2 Hydrocephalus

Reading: National Institute of Neurological Disorder and Stroke: “Hydrocephalus Fact Sheet”
Link: National Institute of Neurological Disorder and Stroke: “Hydrocephalus Fact Sheet”(HTML)

Instructions: Read the entire webpage.

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5.5.3 Autism

Reading: National Institute of Neurological Disorder and Stroke: “Autism Fact Sheet”
Link: National Institute of Neurological Disorder and Stroke: “Autism Fact Sheet”(HTML)

Instructions: Read the entire webpage.

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5.5.4 Trisomy 21 (Down Syndrome)

Reading: National Association for Down Syndrome: “Facts About Down Syndrome”
Link: National Association for Down Syndrome: “Facts About Down Syndrome” (HTML)

Instructions: Read the entire webpage.

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Assessment: The Saylor Foundation’s “Unit 5 Assessment”
Link: The Saylor Foundation's “Unit 5 Assessment” (PDF)

Instructions: Please complete this quiz after working through Unit 5. The questions are either multiple choice, matching, or labeling diagrams. Your answers can be checked against The Saylor Foundation's "Unit 5 Assessment Answer Key” (PDF).This assessment will take roughly 30 minutes to complete.
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Unit 6: Neuroanatomy

During development, various levels of organization are built into cells in order to create structure and order. This unit will introduce the most important structures in neurobiology, from the cerebral cortex to the base of the spinal cord. Neuroanatomy can be broken down into the “-cephalons” (i.e. the top of the head is the telecephalon). As many of these structures are functionally unique but visually similar, it can be difficult to distinguish one from another. Thus, while you are learning these structures, it is important to reference a visual aid that will show you the location and shape.

Unit 6 Time Advisory show close

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6.1 Telencephalon

6.1.1 Cerebral Cortex

Reading: Center for Neuro Skills: Dr. Robert Lehr’s “Brain Functions and Map”
Link: Center for Neuro Skills: Dr. Robert Lehr’s “Brain Functions and Map” (HTML)

Instructions: Read the entire webpage, and click on the embedded links.

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6.1.2 The Cerebral Hemispheres

Reading: The University of Texas’s Neuroscience Online: Dr. Nachum Dafny’s “Ch 1: Overview of the Nervous System”
Link: The University of Texas’s Neuroscience Online: Dr. Nachum Dafny’s “Ch 1: Overview of the Nervous System” (HTML)

Instructions: Read the first paragraph titled “The Cerebral Hemisphere.”

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6.1.3 Limbic System Structures

Reading: NCBI Bookshelf’s version of Sinauer Associates, Inc., Purves, Augustine, Fitzpatrick, et al., editors’ Neuroscience, 2nd Edition: “Ch 29: The Limbic System”
Link: NCBI Bookshelf’sversion of Sinauer Associates, Inc., Purves, Augustine, Fitzpatrick, et al., editors’Neuroscience,2^nd Edition: “Ch 29: The Limbic System” (HTML)

Instructions: Read the entire page and explore the hyperlinks to the figures.

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Web Media: YouTube: AndreeaOliviana’s “Limbic System and Prefrontal Cortex”
Link: YouTube: AndreeaOliviana’s “Limbic System and Prefrontal Cortex” (YouTube)

Instructions: Watch the video linked above (about 4 minutes). The limbic system includes many structures outside of the telecephalon.

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6.1.4 Basal Ganglia

Reading: University of Idaho: Medical Science 532 - Nervous System Course: “Basal Ganglia”
Link: University of Idaho: Medical Science 532 - Nervous System Course: “Basal Ganglia” (HTML)

Instructions: Read the entire webpage.

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6.1.5 Cranial Nerves

Reading: University of Idaho: Medical Science 532 - Nervous System Course: “Cranial Nerves”
Link: University of Idaho: Medical Science 532 - Nervous System Course: “Cranial Nerves” (HTML)

Instructions: Read the entire webpage linked above. There are 12 cranial nerves (each having a specific function) as well as individual branches of larger cranial nerves. You should know them all!

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6.2 Diencephalon

6.2.1 Thalamus, Hypothalamus, Prethalamus, and Epithalamus

Reading: About.com’s Biology: Regina Bailey’s “Diencephalon”
Link: About.com’s Biology: Regina Bailey’s “Diencephalon” (HTML)

Instructions: Read the entire page, and click on the links for “thalamus,” “hypothalamus,” “pineal gland,” and “pituitary gland.”

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Web Media: YouTube: medbenmedben’s “Anatomy of the Brain: Diencephalon, Thalamus, and Hypothalamus”
Link: YouTube: medbenmedben’s “Anatomy of the Brain: Diencephalon, Thalamus, and Hypothalamus” (YouTube)

Instructions: Watch the video linked above (about 4:30 minutes).

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Reading: The Saylor Foundation’s “Thalamus, Hypothalamus, Prethalamus, and Epithalamus”
Link: The Saylor Foundation’s “Thalamus, Hypothalamus, Prethalamus, and Epithalamus” (PDF)

Instructions: Please download the PDF linked above, and read the entire text.
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6.2.2 Pretectum

Reading: NCBI Bookshelf’ s version of Sinauer Associates, Inc., Purves, Augustine, Fitzpatrick, et al., editors’ Neuroscience, 2nd Edition: “Ch 12: Central Projections of Retinal Ganglion Cells”
Link: NCBI Bookshelf’ s version of Sinauer Associates, Inc., Purves, Augustine, Fitzpatrick, et al., editors’ Neuroscience, 2nd Edition: “Ch 12: Central Projections of Retinal Ganglion Cells” (HTML)

Instructions: Scroll down and read the fourth paragraph. Then, click the hyperlink to Figure 12.3. The pretectum (or pretectal area) is a region of neurons found between the thalamus and midbrain. The pretectum primarily controls the pupillary light reflex. The pupillary light reflex is controls the diameter of the pupil in response to the intensity of light that falls on the retina of the eye. The pupillary light reflex is important in adaptation to various levels of darkness and light. More intense light causes the pupil to become smaller (allowing less light in), and less intense light causes the pupil to become larger (allowing more light in). Thus, the pupillary light reflex regulates the intensity of light entering the eye.

The pretectum receives sensory information from the retinal ganglion cells in both eyes. After receiving information, it projects to the Edinger-Westphal nucleus and the ciliary ganglion, which regulate the size of the pupil by controlling the pupillary sphincter muscle and the pupillary dilator muscle, respectively.

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6.3 Mesencephalon

6.3.1 Inferior and Superior Colliculi

Reading: The University of Texas’s Neuroscience Online: Dr. Nachum Dafny’s “Ch 1: Overview of the Nervous System”
Link: The University of Texas’s Neuroscience Online: Dr. Nachum Dafny’s “Ch 1: Overview of the Nervous System” (HTML)

Instructions: Please read the paragraphs on “Mesencephalon.”

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Reading: The Saylor Foundation’s “Inferior and Superior Colliculi”
Link: The Saylor Foundation’s “Inferior and Superior Colliculi” (PDF)

Instructions: Please download the PDF linked above, and read the entire text.
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6.3.2 Cerebral Peduncles

Reading: The University of Texas’s—Neuroscience Online: Dr. James Knierim’s “Ch 2—“Spinal Reflexes and Descending Motor Pathways”
Link: The University of Texas’s—Neuroscience Online: Dr. James Knierim’s “Ch 2—“Spinal Reflexes and Descending Motor Pathways” (HTML)

Instructions: Scroll to the section entitled: “2.2 Descending Motor Pathways” and read as far as “Rubrospinal tract.” You can stop there.

The cerebral peduncles are three sets of paired bundles of the hindbrain (superior, middle, and inferior), which carry body movement information from the cerebrum to the brainstem and spinal cord. By definition, a “peduncle” is a stem- or stalk-like structure of nerve tracts that connect various regions of the brain.

The cerebral peduncles can be divided into anterior section, the crus cerebri,and a posterior section, the tegmentum. The crus cerebri and tegmentumare separated by the substantia nigra.

The corticospinal tract runs through the cerebral peduncles. The corticospinal tract is a collection of axons that travel between the cerebral cortex and the spinal cord, which is involved with discrete voluntary skilled movements, particularly in the hands and fingers. For example, when the cerebrum instructs your hand to reach behind your back to grab a long stick, your corticospinal tract refines that instruction to have you twist your hand to the position of the stick which is easier to grab. The corticobulbar tract also runs through the cerebral peduncles. The corticobulbar tract connects the cerebral cortex and the brain stem and consists of motor neurons of some cranial nerves. Therefore, the corticobulbar tract controls muscles of the face, head, and neck.

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6.4 Metencephalon

6.4.1 Pons

Reading: The University of Texas’s Neuroscience Online: Dr. James Knierim’s “Ch 5: Cerebellum”
Link: The University of Texas’s Neuroscience Online: Dr. James Knierim’s “Ch 5: Cerebellum” (HTML and Adobe Flash)

Instructions: Read the paragraph on the “Pons.”

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6.4.2 Cerebellum

Reading: The University of Texas’s Neuroscience Online: Dr. James Knierim’s “Ch 5: Cerebellum”
Link: The University of Texas’s Neuroscience Online: Dr. James Knierim’s “Ch 5: Cerebellum” (HTML and Adobe Flash)

Instructions: Read page 1. Then, click “next,” and read page 2.

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6.5 Myelencephalon

6.5.1 Medulla Oblongata

Reading: The University of Texas -- Neuroscience Online: Dr. James Knierim’s “Ch 5 – Cerebellum”
Link: The University of Texas -- Neuroscience Online: Dr. James Knierim’s “Ch 5 – Cerebellum” (HTML and Adobe Flash)

Instructions: Read the paragraph on the “Medulla Oblongata.”

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6.5.2 Cranial Nerves

Reading: Yale University School of Medicine: “Cranial Nerves”
Link: Yale University School of Medicine: “Cranial Nerves” (HTML)

Instructions: Click on each of the 12 types of cranial nerves to read about them.

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6.6 Spinal Cord

6.6.1 Cervical, Thoracic, Lumbar, and Sacral Nerves

Reading: The University of Texas’s Neuroscience Online: Dr. Nachum Dafny’s “Ch 3: Anatomy of the Spinal Cord”
Link: The University of Texas’s Neuroscience Online: Dr. Nachum Dafny’s “Ch 3: Anatomy of the Spinal Cord” (HTML)

Instructions: Read the entirety of this webpage, except for the paragraph on the “dermatome.” This reading also covers section 6.6.2.

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6.6.2 Vertebral Column

Note: This topic is covered by the reading under sub-subunit 6.6.1.

6.6.3 Dorsal and Ventral Roots

Reading: The University of Texas’s Neuroscience Online: Dr. Nachum Dafny’s “Ch 3: Anatomy of the Spinal Cord”
Link: The University of Texas’s Neuroscience Online: Dr. Nachum Dafny’s “Ch 3: Anatomy of the Spinal Cord” (HTML)

Instructions: Click “next” to page 3, and read the paragraph for the “Dorsal Root.” Then, click “next” to page 4, and read the paragraph for the “Ventral Root.” Dorsal roots are for sensory functions while ventral roots are for motor functions. Try not to mix these two up!

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6.6.4 Conus Medullaris and Cauda Equina

Reading: Apparelyzed.com: “Spinal Cord Anatomy”
Link: Apparelyzed.com: “Spinal Cord Anatomy” (HTML)

Instructions: Read the webpage linked above.

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6.7 Ventricular System

6.7.1 Cerebrospinal Fluid and Choroid Plexus

Reading: NeuropathologyWeb.org: “Ch14 – Cerebrospinal Fluid”
Link: NeuropathologyWeb.org: “Ch14 – Cerebrospinal Fluid” (HTML)

Instructions: Read the webpage linked above.

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6.7.2 Lateral Ventricles

Reading: Psyweb.com: “Ventricles”
Link: Psyweb.com: “Ventricles” (HTML)

Instructions: Read the webpage linked above.

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6.7.3 Third Ventricle

Web Media: YouTube: Dr. Droual’s “Brain Stem Model – Lateral and Third Ventricles”
Link: YouTube: Dr. Droual’s “Brain Stem Model – Lateral and Third Ventricles” (YouTube)

Instructions: Watch the video (about 1:30 minutes).

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6.7.4 Fourth Ventricle

Web Media: YouTube: “Neuroanatomy – Ventricles”
Link: YouTube: “Neuroanatomy – Ventricles” (YouTube)

Instructions: Watch the entire video (5 minutes).

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6.7.5 Summary of Ventricular System

Reading: Academic.ru: “Ventricular System”
Link: Academic.ru: “Ventricular System” (HTML)

Instructions: Read the entire webpage.

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Assessment: The Saylor Foundation’s “Unit 6 Assessment”
Link: The Saylor Foundation's “Unit 6 Assessment” (PDF)

Instructions: Please complete this quiz after working through Unit 6. The questions are either multiple choice, matching, or labeling diagrams. Your answers can be checked against The Saylor Foundation's "Unit 6 Assessment Answer Key” (PDF).This assessment will take roughly 30 minutes to complete.
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Unit 7: Somatic Sensory System

We will now begin looking at global neural systems. We will begin with the somatic sensory system, which detects physical stimuli such as pressure, temperature, and pain. There are two subsystems within the larger somatic sensory system—one for pressure (mechanosensory) and the other for temperature (thermoception) and pain (nociception). Between these systems, we have a number of receptors that will inform us everything from temperature to muscle stretch. We know a great deal about how these systems work. For example, our use of menthol and capsaicin takes advantage of temperature sensation to enable the feeling of “cool” mints and “spicy” oils. Our somatic sensory is among the oldest and most primitive of nervous functions, existing even in the simplest of organisms.

Unit 7 Time Advisory show close

Unit 7 Learning Outcomes show close

7.1 Sensory Receptors

Reading: The University of Texas’s Neuroscience Online: Dr. Patrick Dougherty's “Ch 2: Somatosensory Systems”
Link: The University of Texas’s Neuroscience Online: Dr. Patrick Dougherty’s “Ch 2: Somatosensory Systems” (HTML and Adobe Flash)

Instructions: Read the first paragraph on “Cutanesous Receptors,” and then take the quiz included at the end of this webpage.

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7.1.1 Free Nerve Endings

Reading: The University of Texas’s Neuroscience Online: Dr. Patrick Dougherty's “Ch 2: Somatosensory Systems”
Link: The University of Texas’s Neuroscience Online: Dr. Patrick Dougherty's “Ch 2: Somatosensory Systems” (HTML and Adobe Flash)

Instructions: On the webpage linked above, scroll down and read the section on “Free Nerve Endings.” Then click the “next” link to page 5 and read “Free Nerve Endings.”

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7.1.2 Meissner’s and Pacinian Corpuscles

Reading: The University of Texas’s Neuroscience Online: Dr. Patrick Dougherty’s “Ch 2: Somatosensory Systems”
Link: The University of Texas’s Neuroscience Online: Dr. Patrick Dougherty’s “Ch 2: Somatosensory Systems” (HTML and Adobe Flash)

Instructions: Read the sections “Cutaneous Receptors,” “Meissner Corpuscles,” and “Pacinian Corpuscles.”

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7.1.3 Merkel’s Disks

Reading: The University of Texas’s Neuroscience Online: Dr. Patrick Dougherty’s “Ch 2: Somatosensory Systems”
Link: The University of Texas’s Neuroscience Online: Dr. Patrick Dougherty’s “Ch 2: Somatosensory Systems” (HTML and Adobe Flash)

Instructions: Scroll down and read sections titled “Hair follicle” and “Merkel Complex.”

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7.1.4 Ruffini’s Corpuscles

Reading: The University of Texas’s Neuroscience Online: Dr. Patrick Dougherty’s “Ch 2: Somatosensory Systems”
Link: The University of Texas’s Neuroscience Online: Dr. Patrick Dougherty’s “Ch 2: Somatosensory Systems” (HTML and Adobe Flash)

Instructions: Scroll down and read the section titled “RuffiniCorpuscles.”

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7.1.5 Muscle Spindles

Reading: The University of Texas’s Neuroscience Online: Dr. Patrick Dougherty’s “Ch 2: Somatosensory Systems”
Link: The University of Texas’s Neuroscience Online: Dr. Patrick Dougherty’s “Ch 2: Somatosensory Systems” (HTML and Adobe Flash)

Instructions: Read the section titled “Muscle Spindles.”

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7.1.6 Golgi Tendon Organs (GTO)

Reading: The University of Texas’s Neuroscience Online: Dr. Patrick Dougherty’s “Ch 2: Somatosensory Systems”
Link: The University of Texas’s Neuroscience Online: Dr. Patrick Dougherty’s “Ch 2: Somatosensory Systems” (HTML and Adobe Flash)

Instructions: Scroll down and read the section titled “Golgi Tendon Organs.”

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7.1.7 Joint Receptors

Reading: The University of Texas’s Neuroscience Online: Dr. Patrick Dougherty’s “Ch 2: Somatosensory Systems”
Link: The University of Texas’s Neuroscience Online: Dr. Patrick Dougherty’s “Ch 2: Somatosensory Systems” (HTML and Adobe Flash)

Instructions: Scroll down and read the section titled “Joint Receptors.”

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7.2 Mechanosensory Pathway

7.2.1 Threshold and Two-Point Discrimination

Reading: NCBI Bookshelf’s version of Sinauer Associates, Inc., Purves, Augustine, Fitzpatrick, et al., editors’ Neuroscience, 2nd Edition: “Ch 9: Differences in Mechanosensory Discrimination Across the Body Surface”
Link: NCBI Bookshelf’s version of Sinauer Associates, Inc., Purves, Augustine, Fitzpatrick, et al., editors’ Neuroscience, 2nd Edition: “Ch 9: Differences in Mechanosensory Discrimination Across the Body Surface” (HTML)

Instructions: Read the entire webpage.

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7.2.2 Proprioception

Reading: NCBI Bookshelf’s version of Sinauer Associates, Inc., Purves, Augustine, Fitzpatrick, et al., editors’ Neuroscience, 2nd Edition: “Ch 9: Mechanoreceptors Specialized for Proprioception”
Link: NCBI Bookshelf’s version of Sinauer Associates, Inc., Purves, Augustine, Fitzpatrick, et al., editors’ Neuroscience, 2nd Edition: “Ch 9: Mechanoreceptors Specialized for Proprioception” (HTML)

Instructions: Read the entire webpage. Proprioception is the ability to know where you are in space. To understand this concept, close your eyes and point to your nose with your right index finger. You managed to complete this task without looking at your hand through the “magic” of proprioception. There are several types of receptors that function together to provide your brain with proprioception information. You should be able to identify these types of receptors and the contributions that each makes.

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7.2.3 Dermatomes

Reading: The University of Texas’s Neuroscience Online: Dr. Nachum Dafny’s “Ch 3: Anatomy of the Spinal Cord”
Link: The University of Texas’s Neuroscience Online: Dr. Nachum Dafny’s “Ch 3: Anatomy of the Spinal Cord” (HTML and Adobe Flash)

Instructions: Scroll down and read the paragraph beginning “A dermatome is an area of skin…” and the associated Figure 3.5.

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7.2.4 Dorsal Column-Medial Lemniscus (DCML) Pathway

Reading: NCBI Bookshelf’s version of Sinauer Associates, Inc., Purves, Augustine, Fitzpatrick, et al., editors’ Neuroscience, 2nd Edition: “Ch 9: The Major Afferent Pathway for Mechanosensory Information: The Dorsal Column-Medial Lemniscus System”
Link: NCBI Bookshelf’s version of Sinauer Associates, Inc., Purves, Augustine, Fitzpatrick, et al., editors’ Neuroscience, 2nd Edition: “Ch 9: The Major Afferent Pathway for Mechanosensory Information: The Dorsal Column-Medial Lemniscus System” (HTML)

Instructions: Read the entire webpage, click on the embedded hyperlinks, and explore all figures.

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7.2.5 Trigeminothalamic Pathway

Reading: NCBI Bookshelf’s version of Sinauer Associates, Inc., Purves, Augustine, Fitzpatrick, et al., editors’ Neuroscience, 2nd Edition: “Ch 9: The Trigeminal Portion of the Mechanosensory System”
Link: NCBI Bookshelf’s version of Sinauer Associates, Inc., Purves, Augustine, Fitzpatrick, et al., editors’ Neuroscience, 2nd Edition: “Ch 9: The Trigeminal Portion of the Mechanosensory System” (HTML)

Instructions: Read the entire webpage, click on any embedded links, and explore all figures. Both the DCML and trigeminothalamic pathways provide physical stimuli information to the brain. One covers the face, while the other covers the rest of the body. Be sure to know which one is which, and be able to trace a typical pathway of each in the body!

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7.2.6 Somatic Sensory Cortices and Homunculus

Reading: NCBI Bookshelf’s version of Sinauer Associates, Inc., Purves, Augustine, Fitzpatrick, et al., editors’ Neuroscience, 2nd Edition: “Ch 9: The Somatic Sensory Cortex”
Link: NCBI Bookshelf’s version of Sinauer Associates, Inc., Purves, Augustine, Fitzpatrick, et al., editors’ Neuroscience, 2nd Edition: “Ch 9: The Somatic Sensory Cortex” (HTML)

Instructions: Read the entire webpage, click on any embedded links, and explore all figures.

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7.3 Temperature and Pain

7.3.1 Nociceptor Types

Reading: The University of Texas’s -- Neuroscience Online: Dr. Nachum’s “Ch 6: – Pain Principles”
Link: The University of Texas’s -- Neuroscience Online: Dr. Nachum’s “Ch 6: Pain Principles” (HTML and Adobe Flash)

Instructions: Read the introduction, section 6.1 “Pain receptors”, and section 6.6 “Nociceptor Neurons in the Spinal Cord (Nocineurons).”

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7.3.2 Heat and Cold Perception

Reading: The University of Texas’s Neuroscience Online: Dr. Patrick Dougherty’s “Ch 4: Somatosensory Pathways”
Link: The University of Texas’s Neuroscience Online: Dr. Patrick Dougherty’s “Ch 4: Somatosensory Pathways” (HTML and Adobe Flash)

Instructions: Read the entire webpage.

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7.3.3 First and Second Pain

Reading: NCBI Bookshelf’s version of Sinauer Associates, Inc., Purves, Augustine, Fitzpatrick, et al., editors’ Neuroscience, 2nd Edition: “Ch 10: The Perception of Pain”
Link: NCBI Bookshelf’s version of Sinauer Associates, Inc., Purves, Augustine, Fitzpatrick, et al., editors’ Neuroscience, 2nd Edition: “Ch 10: The Perception of Pain” (HTML)

Instructions: Read the entire webpage, click on any embedded links, and explore all figures.

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7.3.4 Referred Pain

Reading: NCBI Bookshelf’s version of Sinauer Associates, Inc., Purves, Augustine, Fitzpatrick, et al., editors’ Neuroscience, 2nd Edition: “Box A – Referred Pain”
Link: NCBI Bookshelf’s version of Sinauer Associates, Inc., Purves, Augustine, Fitzpatrick, et al., editors’ Neuroscience, 2nd Edition: “Box A – Referred Pain” (HTML)

Instructions: Read the entire webpage, and view the figures.

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7.3.5 Anterolateral System

Reading: NCBI Bookshelf’s version of Sinauer Associates, Inc., Purves, Augustine, Fitzpatrick, et al., editors’ Neuroscience, 2nd Edition: “Ch 10: Central Pain Pathways: The Spinothalamic Tract”
Link: NCBI Bookshelf’s version of Sinauer Associates, Inc., Purves, Augustine, Fitzpatrick, et al., editors’ Neuroscience, 2nd Edition: “Ch 10: Central Pain Pathways: The Spinothalamic Tract” (HTML)

Instructions: Read the entire webpage.

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7.3.6 Trigeminal Tract

Reading: NCBI Bookshelf’s version of Sinauer Associates, Inc., Purves, Augustine, Fitzpatrick, et al., editors’ Neuroscience, 2nd Edition: “Ch 9: The Trigeminal Portion of the Mechanosensory System”
Link: NCBI Bookshelf’s version of Sinauer Associates, Inc., Purves, Augustine, Fitzpatrick, et al., editors’ Neuroscience, 2nd Edition: “Ch 9: The Trigeminal Portion of the Mechanosensory System” (HTML)

Instructions: Read the entire webpage.

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7.3.7 Sensitization

Reading: NCBI Bookshelf’s version of Sinauer Associates, Inc., Purves, Augustine, Fitzpatrick, et al., editors’ Neuroscience, 2nd Edition: “Ch 10: Hyperalgesia and Sensitization”
Link: NCBI Bookshelf’s version of Sinauer Associates, Inc., Purves, Augustine, Fitzpatrick, et al., editors’ Neuroscience, 2nd Edition: “Ch 10: Hyperalgesia and Sensitization” (HTML)

Instructions: Read the entire webpage.

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Assessment: The Saylor Foundation’s “Unit 7 Quiz”
Link: The Saylor Foundation’s “Unit 7 Quiz” (PDF)

Instructions: Please complete the entire assessment. You can check your answers with The Saylor Foundation’s “Unit 7 Answer Key” (PDF).
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Unit 8: Special Senses

This unit will cover all of our special senses. While you may know the four common ones (sight, smell, taste, hearing), you may not be familiar with the vestibular sense, which helps us orient ourselves in terms of head position, motion, and spatial awareness. Each of these senses has its own unique anatomy as well as system of detecting stimuli, and each sense projects to different parts of the brain. Because we depend on these senses for everyday function, they have sophisticated and complex mechanisms of action.

Unit 8 Time Advisory show close

Unit 8 Learning Outcomes show close

8.1 Vision

8.1.1 Eye Anatomy

Reading: Howard Hughes Medical Institute: Neuroscience Lecture Series – 1997 Holiday Lectures: “Senses and Sensitivity: Neuronal Alliances for Sight and Sound”
Link: Howard Hughes Medical Institute: Neuroscience Lecture Series – 1997 Holiday Lectures: “Senses and Sensitivity: Neuronal Alliances for Sight and Sound” (Adobe Flash or RealPlayer)

Instructions: Scroll down to the 1997 Holiday Lectures. Click on the link to Lecture 2: “The Science of Sight: Getting the Picture, by Jeremy Nathans, M.D., Ph.D,” then, on the right margin, click on “2. Contrasting the eye and how a camera works.” The video will begin at 5:45. Please watch the video until Section 7, or until 41:06. This video will cover the topics outlined in sections 8.1.1, 8.1.2, and 8.1.3.

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8.1.2 Image Formation and Accommodation

Reading: Davidson College: Webphysics: “The Human Eye”
Link: Davidson College: Webphysics: “The Human Eye” (HTML and JAVA)

Instructions: Read the entire webpage. Follow the webpage’s instructions for visualization of the applet.

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8.1.3 Rods and Cones

Note: This topic is covered by the resource under sub-subunit 8.1.1.

8.1.4 Phototransduction

Reading: OpenWetWare: Bio254: “Phototransduction”
Link: OpenWetWare: Bio254: “Phototransduction” (HTML)

Instructions: Click on “3. Phototransduction step by step,” and read all of section 3.

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8.1.5 On-center and Off-center Ganglia Cells

Reading: University of Utah: Webvision’s “Outer Plexiform Layer”
Link: University of Utah: Webvision’s “Outer Plexiform Layer” (HTML)

Instructions: Scroll down the webpage to the section titled “ON and OFF pathways of the retina are initiated at the photoreceptor to bipolar contacts.” Please read this entire section.

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8.1.6 Optic Nerve, Optic Chiasm, and Visual Fields

Reading: Dr. Ted M. Montgomery’s “Anatomy, Physiology & Pathology of the Human Eye - The Optic Nerve”
Link: Dr. Ted M. Montgomery’s “Anatomy, Physiology & Pathology of the Human Eye - The Optic Nerve” (HTML)

Instructions: Read the entire webpage.

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8.1.7 Cortical Visual Pathway

Reading: The University of Texas’s Neuroscience Online: Dr. Valentin Dragoi’s “Ch 15: Visual Processing: Cortical Pathways”
Link: The University of Texas’s Neuroscience Online: Dr. Valentin Dragoi’s “Ch 15: Visual Processing: Coritical Pathways” (HTML)

Instructions: Read the entire section titled “The Visual Pathway from Retina to Cortex,” focusing on the subsections “The Optic Nerve” and “The Lateral Geniculate Nucleus.”

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8.1.8 Visual Cortices

Reading: The University of Texas’s Neuroscience Online: Dr. Valentin Dragoi’s “Ch 15: Visual Processing: Cortical Pathways”
Link: The University of Texas’s Neuroscience Online: Dr. Valentin Dragoi’s “Ch 15: Visual Processing: Coritical Pathways” (HTML)

Instructions: Scroll down the webpage, and read the section titled “Visual Cortical Areas.”

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8.2 Auditory

8.2.1 Audible Spectrum

Reading: NCBI Bookshelf’s version of Sinauer Associates, Inc., Purves, Augustine, Fitzpatrick, et al., editors’ Neuroscience, 2nd Edition: “Ch 13: The Audible Spectrum”
Link: NCBI Bookshelf’s version of Sinauer Associates, Inc., Purves, Augustine, Fitzpatrick, et al., editors’ Neuroscience, 2nd Edition: “Ch 13: The Audible Spectrum” (HTML)

Instructions: Read the entire webpage.

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8.2.2 Outer, Middle, Inner Ears

Reading: NCBI Bookshelf’s version of Sinauer Associates, Inc., Purves, Augustine, Fitzpatrick, et al., editors’ Neuroscience, 2nd Edition: Ch 13: The Auditory System: “The Middle Ear,” “The Inner Ear,” and “The External Ear”
Links: NCBI Bookshelf’s version of Sinauer Associates, Inc., Purves, Augustine, Fitzpatrick, et al., editors’ Neuroscience, 2nd Edition: Ch 13: The Auditory System: “The Middle Ear,” (HTML) “The Inner Ear,” (HTML) and “The External Ear”(HTML)

Instructions: Read the entire content of the webpages as well as the hyperlinks to the figures.

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8.2.3 Inner and Outer Hair Cells

Reading: NCBI Bookshelf’s version of Sinauer Associates, Inc., Purves, Augustine, Fitzpatrick, et al., editors’ Neuroscience, 2nd Edition: “Ch 13: Two Kinds of Hair Cells in the Cochlea”
Link: NCBI Bookshelf’s version of Sinauer Associates, Inc., Purves, Augustine, Fitzpatrick, et al., editors’ Neuroscience, 2nd Edition: “Ch13: Two Kinds of Hair Cells in the Cochlea” (HTML)

Instructions: Read the entire webpage, click on any embedded hyperlinks, and explore all figures.

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8.2.4 Mechanoelectrical Transduction

Web Media: 1Lecture.com: “Effect of Sound Waves on Cochlear Structures”
Link: 1Lecture.com: “Effect of Sound Waves on Cochlear Structures” (Adobe Flash)

Instructions: Watch the entire 2-minute video.

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8.2.5 Integration of Information from Two Ears

Reading: NCBI Bookshelf’s version of Sinauer Associates, Inc., Purves, Augustine, Fitzpatrick, et al., editors’ Neuroscience, 2nd Edition: “Ch 13: Integrating Information from the Two Ears”
Link: NCBI Bookshelf’s version of Sinauer Associates, Inc., Purves, Augustine, Fitzpatrick, et al., editors’ Neuroscience, 2nd Edition: “Ch 13: Integrating Information from the Two Ears” (HTML)

Instructions: Read the entire webpage, click on any hyperlinks to figures, and read any accompanying text for each figure. The auditory system has a unique and intriguing way of figuring out the directional origin of sound; it uses selective signaling pathways. Be sure to understand how the system this works.

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8.2.6 Inferior Colliculus and Auditory Space Map

Reading: NCBI Bookshelf’s version of Sinauer Associates, Inc., Purves, Augustine, Fitzpatrick, et al., editors’ Neuroscience, 2nd Edition “Ch 13: Integration in the Inferior Colliculus”
Link: NCBI Bookshelf’s version of Sinauer Associates, Inc., Purves, Augustine, Fitzpatrick, et al., editors’ Neuroscience, 2nd Edition: “Ch 13: Integration in the Inferior Colliculus” (HTML)

Instructions: Read the entire webpage, click on all hyperlinks to figures, and read the accompanying text for each figure.

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8.2.7 Auditory Thalamus and Auditory Cortex

Reading: The University of Texas’s Neuroscience Online: Dr. Lincoln Gray’s “Ch 13: Auditory System: Pathways and Reflexes”
Link: The University of Texas’s Neuroscience Online: Dr. Lincoln Gray’s “Ch 13: Auditory System: Pathways and Reflexes” (HTML and Adobe Flash)

Instructions: Read the entire webpage. Then, take the quiz at the end of the page.

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8.3 Vestibular System

8.3.1 Otolith Organs

Reading: NCBI Bookshelf’s version of Sinauer Associates, Inc., Purves, Augustine, Fitzpatrick, et al., editors’ Neuroscience, 2nd Edition: “Ch 14: The Otolith Organs: The Utricle and Sacculus”
Link: NCBI Bookshelf’s version of Sinauer Associates, Inc., Purves, Augustine, Fitzpatrick, et al., editors’ Neuroscience, 2nd Edition: “Ch 14: The Otolith Organs: The Utricle and Sacculus” (HTML)

Instructions: Read the entire webpage, click on the links to any figures, and read the accompanying text for each figure.

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8.3.2 Semicircular Canals

Reading: NCBI Bookshelf’s version of Sinauer Associates, Inc., Purves, Augustine, Fitzpatrick, et al., editors’ Neuroscience, 2nd Edition: “Ch 14: The Semicircular Canals”
Link: NCBI Bookshelf’s version of Sinauer Associates, Inc., Purves, Augustine, Fitzpatrick, et al., editors’ Neuroscience, 2nd Edition: “Ch 14: The Semicircular Canals” (HTML)

Instructions: Read the entire webpage, and click on and read the text for any embedded hyperlinks. This reading also covers section 8.3.3.

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8.3.3 Angular and Linear Accelerations

Note: This topic is covered by the reading under sub-subunit 8.3.2.

8.3.4 Scarpa’s Ganglion

Reading: NCBI Bookshelf’s version of Sinauer Associates, Inc., Purves, Augustine, Fitzpatrick, et al., editors’ Neuroscience, 2nd Edition: “Ch 14: Central Vestibular Pathways: Eye, Head, and Body Reflexes”
Link: NCBI Bookshelf’s version of Sinauer Associates, Inc., Purves, Augustine, Fitzpatrick, et al., editors’ Neuroscience, 2nd Edition: “Ch 14: Central Vestibular Pathways: Eye, Head, and Body Reflexes” (HTML)

Instructions: Read the entire webpage and explore all hyperlinks to figures. This reading also covers section 8.3.5.

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8.3.5 Vestibular Pathways

Note: This topic is covered by the reading beneath sub-subunit 8.3.4.

8.4 Olfaction

8.4.1 Olfactory System Anatomy

Lecture: Howard Hughes Medical Institute: Neuroscience Lecture Series – 1997 Holiday Lectures: “Senses and Sensitivity: Neuronal Alliances for Sight and Sound”
Link: Howard Hughes Medical Institute: Neuroscience Lecture Series – 1997 Holiday Lectures: “Senses and Sensitivity: Neuronal Alliances for Sight and Sound” (Adobe Flash or RealPlayer)

Instructions: Scroll down to 1997 Holiday Lectures. Click on the link to “Lecture 1 - Sensory Transduction: Getting the Message, by A. James Hudspeth, Ph.D., M.D.,” then watch the video from 28:00 to 31:00.

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8.4.2 Odorants, Threshold, and Adaptation

Reading: NCBI Bookshelf’s version of Sinauer Associates, Inc., Purves, Augustine, Fitzpatrick, et al., editors’ Neuroscience, 2nd Edition: “Ch 15: Olfactory Perception in Humans”
Link: NCBI Bookshelf’s version of Sinauer Associates, Inc., Purves, Augustine, Fitzpatrick, et al., editors’ Neuroscience, 2nd Edition: “Ch 15: Olfactory Perception in Humans” (HTML)

Instructions: Read the entire webpage and explore all hyperlinks to figures. For adaptation, see section 8.4.3.

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8.4.3 Odorant Receptors and Olfactory Receptor Neurons

Reading: The University of Texas’s Neuroscience Online: Dr. Max Hutchin’s “Ch 9: Chemical Senses: Olfaction and Gustation”
Link: The University of Texas’s Neuroscience Online: Dr. Max Hutchin’s “Ch 9: Chemical Senses: Olfaction and Gustation” (HTML)

Instructions: Read the introduction, and scroll down to the “Olfactory System” section.

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8.4.4 Signal Transduction of Olfactory Neurons

Lecture: Howard Hughes Medical Institute: Neuroscience Lecture Series – 1997 Holiday Lectures: “Senses and Sensitivity: Neuronal Alliances for Sight and Sound”
Link: Howard Hughes Medical Institute: Neuroscience Lecture Series – 1997 Holiday Lectures: “Senses and Sensitivity: Neuronal Alliances for Sight and Sound” (Adobe Flash or RealPlayer)

Instructions: Scroll down to 1997 Holiday Lectures, then click on “Lecture 1 - Sensory Transduction: Getting the Message, by A. James Hudspeth, Ph.D., M.D.” Next, in the right margin, click on “6. Encoding the signal and transmission to the brain.” Please view this section until you reach 39 minutes for the run time of the video.

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8.4.5 Central Projections of Olfactory Bulb

Reading: NCBI Bookshelf’s version of Sinauer Associates, Inc., Purves, Augustine, Fitzpatrick, et al., editors’ Neuroscience, 2nd Edition: “Ch 15: Central Projections of Olfactory Bulb”
Link: NCBI Bookshelf’s version of Sinauer Associates, Inc., Purves, Augustine, Fitzpatrick, et al., editors’ Neuroscience, 2nd Edition: “Ch 15: Central Projections of Olfactory Bulb” (HTML)

Instructions: Read the entire webpage, and click on and read the text for any embedded hyperlinks.

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8.5 Gustation

8.5.1 Taste System Anatomy

Reading: NCBI Bookshelf’s version of Sinauer Associates, Inc., Purves, Augustine, Fitzpatrick, et al., editors’ Neuroscience, 2nd Edition: “Ch 15: The Organization of the Taste System”
Link: NCBI Bookshelf’s version of Sinauer Associates, Inc., Purves, Augustine, Fitzpatrick, et al., editors’ Neuroscience, 2nd Edition: “Ch 15: The Organization of the Taste System” (HTML)

Instructions: Read the entire webpage, and click on and read the text for any embedded hyperlinks.

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8.5.2 Five Perceived Tastes

Reading: NCBI Bookshelf’s version of Sinauer Associates, Inc., Purves, Augustine, Fitzpatrick, et al., editors’ Neuroscience, 2nd Edition: “Ch 15: Taste Perception in Humans”
Link: NCBI Bookshelf’s version of Sinauer Associates, Inc., Purves, Augustine, Fitzpatrick, et al., editors’ Neuroscience, 2nd Edition: “Ch 15: Taste Perception in Humans” (HTML)

Instructions: Read the entire webpage.

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8.5.3 Taste Cells and Taste Buds

Reading: The University of Texas’s Neuroscience Online: Dr. Max Hutchin’s “Ch 9: Chemical Senses: Olfaction and Gustation”
Link: The University of Texas’s Neuroscience Online: Dr. Max Hutchin’s “Ch 9: Chemical Senses: Olfaction and Gustation” (HTML)

Instructions: Read the introduction and the “Gustatory System” section.

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8.5.4 Distribution of Taste Buds

Reading: NCBI Bookshelf’s version of Sinauer Associates, Inc., Purves, Augustine, Fitzpatrick, et al., editors’ Neuroscience, 2nd Edition: “The Organization of the Taste System”
Link: NCBI Bookshelf’s version of Sinauer Associates, Inc., Purves, Augustine, Fitzpatrick, et al., editors’ Neuroscience, 2nd Edition: “The Organization of the Taste System” (HTML)

Instructions: Read the entire webpage.

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8.5.5 Supertasters

Reading: NCBI Bookshelf’s version of Sinauer Associates, Inc., Purves, Augustine, Fitzpatrick, et al., editors’ Neuroscience, 2nd Edition: “Ch 15: Idiosyncratic Responses to Various Tastants”
Link: NCBI Bookshelf’s version of Sinauer Associates, Inc., Purves, Augustine, Fitzpatrick, et al., editors’ Neuroscience, 2nd Edition: “Ch 15: Idiosyncratic Responses to Various Tastants” (HTML)

Instructions: Read the entire webpage.

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8.5.6 Transduction of Gustation Signals

Reading: NCBI Bookshelf’s version of Sinauer Associates, Inc., Purves, Augustine, Fitzpatrick, et al., editors’ Neuroscience, 2nd Edition: “Ch 15: Taste Receptors and the Transduction of Taste Signals”
Link: NCBI Bookshelf’s version of Sinauer Associates, Inc., Purves, Augustine, Fitzpatrick, et al., editors’ Neuroscience, 2nd Edition: “Ch 15: Taste Receptors and the Transduction of Taste Signals” (HTML)

Instructions: Read the entire webpage, and click on and read any embedded hyperlinks.

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8.5.7 Neural Coding

Reading: NCBI Bookshelf’s version of Sinauer Associates, Inc., Purves, Augustine, Fitzpatrick, et al., editors’ Neuroscience, 2nd Edition: “Ch 15: Neural Coding in the Taste System”
Link: NCBI Bookshelf’s version of Sinauer Associates, Inc., Purves, Augustine, Fitzpatrick, et al., editors’ Neuroscience, 2nd Edition: “Ch 15: Neural Coding in the Taste System” (HTML)

Instructions: Read the entire webpage, and click on and read any embedded hyperlinks.

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8.5.8 Solitary Tract and Solitary Nucleus

Reading: NCBI Bookshelf’s version of Sinauer Associates, Inc., Purves, Augustine, Fitzpatrick, et al., editors’ Neuroscience, 2nd Edition: “Ch 15: Central Processing of Taste Signals”
Link: NCBI Bookshelf’s version of Sinauer Associates, Inc., Purves, Augustine, Fitzpatrick, et al., editors’ Neuroscience, 2nd Edition: “Ch 15: Central Processing of Taste Signals” (HTML)

Instructions: Read the entire webpage, and click on and read any embedded hyperlinks.

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Assessment: The Saylor Foundation’s “Unit 8 Quiz”
Link: The Saylor Foundation’s “Unit 8 Quiz” (PDF)

Instructions: Please complete the entire assessment. You can check your answers with The Saylor Foundation’s “Unit 8 Answer Key” (PDF).
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Unit 9: Motor Systems

We will now focus on motor systems. Much of our motor control takes place through nerve-to-muscle signaling in the form of the neuromuscular junction. You will learn that fine motor control and movement modulation—though involuntary—require a great deal of nervous input and output. You will also learn about the autonomic nervous system, which controls many of our internal organs. This unit will encompass both aspects of voluntary and involuntary motor control, examining the systems and major mechanisms of movement.

Unit 9 Time Advisory show close

Unit 9 Learning Outcomes show close

9.1 Lower Motor Circuits

9.1.1 Lower Motor Neurons and α-motor Neurons

Reading: NCBI Bookshelf’s version of Sinauer Associates, Inc., Purves, Augustine, Fitzpatrick, et al., editors’ Neuroscience, 2nd Edition: “Functional Organization of the Primary Motor Cortex” and “The Motor Unit”
Links: NCBI Bookshelf’s version of Sinauer Associates, Inc., Purves, Augustine, Fitzpatrick, et al., editors’ Neuroscience, 2nd Edition: “Functional Organization of the Primary Motor Cortex”(HTML) and “The Motor Unit” (HTML)

Instructions: Click on the first link, and read the entire webpage for lower motor neurons. Then, click on the second link, and read the entire webpage to learn about α-motor Neurons.

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9.1.2 Local Circuit

Reading: NCBI Bookshelf’s version of Sinauer Associates, Inc., Purves, Augustine, Fitzpatrick, et al., editors’ Neuroscience, 2nd Edition: “Ch 17: Descending Control of Spinal Cord Circuitry: General Information”
Link: NCBI Bookshelf’s version of Sinauer Associates, Inc., Purves, Augustine, Fitzpatrick, et al., editors’ Neuroscience, 2nd Edition: “Ch 17: Descending Control of Spinal Cord Circuitry: General Information” (HTML)

Instructions: Read the webpage, and click on the hyperlinks to Figure 17.1.

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9.1.3 Ventral Horn

Reading: NCBI Bookshelf’s version of Sinauer Associates, Inc., Purves, Augustine, Fitzpatrick, et al., editors’ Neuroscience, 2nd Edition: “Ch 17: Descending Control of Spinal Cord Circuitry: General Information”
Link: NCBI Bookshelf’s version of Sinauer Associates, Inc., Purves, Augustine, Fitzpatrick, et al., editors’ Neuroscience, 2nd Edition: “Ch 17: Descending Control of Spinal Cord Circuitry: General Information” (HTML)

Instructions: Read the entire webpage.

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9.1.4 Neuromuscular Junction

Reading: The University of Texas’s Neuroscience Online: Dr. John Byrne’s “Ch 4: Synaptic Transmission and the Skeletal Neuromuscular Junction”
Link: The University of Texas’s Neuroscience Online: Dr. John Byrne’s “Ch 4: Synaptic Transmission and the Skeletal Neuromuscular Junction” (HTML)

Instructions: Read the first two sections of the webpage “Anatomy of the Neuromuscular Junction” and “Physiology of Synaptic Transmission at the Neuromuscular Junction.”

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9.1.5 Somatotopic Organization

Reading: NCBI Bookshelf’s version of Sinauer Associates, Inc., Purves, Augustine, Fitzpatrick, et al., editors’ Neuroscience, 2nd Edition: “Ch 16: Motor Neuron-Muscle Relationships”
Link: NCBI Bookshelf’sversion of Sinauer Associates, Inc., Purves, Augustine, Fitzpatrick, et al., editors’ Neuroscience, 2nd Edition: “Ch 16: Motor Neuron-Muscle Relationships” (HTML)

Instructions: Read the entire webpage, click on any embedded hyperlinks, and focus on the figures and tables.

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9.1.6 Motor Units

Reading: The University of Texas’s Neuroscience Online: Dr. James Knierim’s “Ch 1: Motor Units and Muscle Receptors”
Link: The University of Texas’s Neuroscience Online: Dr. James Knierim’s “Ch 1: Motor Units and Muscle Receptors” (HTML)

Instructions: Read the section on “Motor Neurons.”

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9.1.7 Size Principle

Reading: The University of Texas’s Neuroscience Online: Dr. James Knierim’s “Ch 1: Motor Units and Muscle Receptors”
Link: The University of Texas’s Neuroscience Online: Dr. James Knierim’s “Ch 1: Motor Units and Muscle Receptors” (HTML and Adobe Flash)

Instructions: Read the section on “Control of Muscle Force.”

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9.1.8 Stretch Reflex and γ-Motor Neurons

Reading: The University of Texas’s Neuroscience Online: Dr. James Knierim’s “Ch 2: Spinal Reflexes and Descending Motor Pathways”
Link: The University of Texas’s Neuroscience Online: Dr. James Knierim’s “Ch 2: Spinal Reflexes and Descending Motor Pathways” (HTML and Adobe Flash)

Instructions: Read the entire chapter. This reading also covers section 9.1.9.

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9.1.9 Extensor and Flexor Pairs

Note: This topic is covered by the reading under subunit 9.1.

9.1.10 Golgi Tendon Organs

Reading: The University of Texas’s Neuroscience Online: Dr. James Knierim’s “Ch 1: Motor Units and Muscle Receptors”
Link: The University of Texas’s Neuroscience Online: Dr. James Knierim’s “Ch 1: Motor Units and Muscle Receptors” (HTML and Adobe Flash)

Instructions: Read the entire webpage. Complete the quiz at the bottom of the page.

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9.1.11 Central Pattern Generators

Reading: NCBI Bookshelf’s version of Sinauer Associates, Inc., Purves, Augustine, Fitzpatrick, et al., editors’ Neuroscience, 2nd Edition: “Ch 16: Spinal Cord Circuitry and Locomotion”
Link: NCBI Bookshelf’s version of Sinauer Associates, Inc., Purves, Augustine, Fitzpatrick, et al., editors’ Neuroscience, 2nd Edition: “Ch 16:Spinal Cord Circuitry and Locomotion” (HTML)

Instructions: Read the entire webpage. Also, click on any embedded hyperlinks, focus on the figures and Box B, and read its contents.

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9.1.12 Lower Motor Neuron Syndrome

Reading: The University of Texas’s Neuroscience Online: Dr. James Knierim’s “Ch 6: Disorders of the Motor System”
Link: The University of Texas’s Neuroscience Online: Dr. James Knierim’s “Ch 6: Disorders of the Motor System” (HTML)

Instructions: Read the section on the “Lower Motor Neuron Syndrome.”

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9.1.13 Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis

Reading: NCBI Bookshelf’s version of Sinauer Associates, Inc., Purves, Augustine, Fitzpatrick, et al., editors’ Neuroscience, 2nd Edition: “Box C - Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis”
Link: NCBI Bookshelf’s version of Sinauer Associates, Inc., Purves, Augustine, Fitzpatrick, et al., editors’ Neuroscience, 2nd Edition: “Box C - Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis” (HTML)

Instructions: Read the entire webpage.

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9.2 Upper Motor Circuits

9.2.1 General Upper Motor Control Characteristics

Reading: NCBI Bookshelf’s version of Sinauer Associates, Inc., Purves, Augustine, Fitzpatrick, et al., editors’ Neuroscience, 2nd Edition: “Ch 17: The Primary Motor Cortex: Upper Motor Neurons That Initiate Complex Voluntary Movements”
Link: NCBI Bookshelf’s version of Sinauer Associates, Inc., Purves, Augustine, Fitzpatrick, et al., editors’ Neuroscience, 2nd Edition: “Ch 17: The Primary Motor Cortex: Upper Motor Neurons That Initiate Complex Voluntary Movements” (HTML)

Instructions: Read the entire webpage.

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9.2.2 Decussation

Reading: The University of Texas’s Neuroscience Online: Dr. Patrick Dougherty’s “Ch 5: Somatosensory Processes”
Link: The University of Texas’s Neuroscience Online: Dr. Patrick Dougherty’s “Ch 5: Somatosensory Processes” (HTML)

Instructions: Read the paragraph titled “Sensory Pathway Decussate before Reaching the Thalamus.” Decussation refers to the crossing over of nerve fibers from the left side of the body to the right side and vice versa. Most tracts have some decussation but some do not. Be sure to know which ones do not!

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9.2.3 Colliculus and Colliculospinal Tract / Tectospinal Tract

Reading: The University of Texas’s Neuroscience Online: Dr. James Knierim’s “Ch 2: Spinal Reflexes and Descending Motor Pathways”
Link: The University of Texas’s Neuroscience Online: Dr. James Knierim’s “Ch 2: Spinal Reflexes and Descending Motor Pathways” (HTML and Adobe Flash)

Instructions: Scroll down and read the paragraph on “Tectospinal tract.”

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9.2.4 Red Nucleus and Rubrospinal Tract

Reading: The University of Texas’s Neuroscience Online: Dr. James Knierim’s “Ch 2: Spinal Reflexes and Descending Motor Pathways”
Link: The University of Texas’s Neuroscience Online: Dr. James Knierim’s “Ch 2: Spinal Reflexes and Descending Motor Pathways” (HTML and Adobe Flash)

Instructions: Scroll down and read the paragraph on the “Rubrospinal tract.”

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9.2.5 Reticular Formation and Reticulospinal Tract

Reading: The University of Texas’s Neuroscience Online: Dr. James Knierim’s “Ch 2: Spinal Reflexes and Descending Motor Pathways”
Link: The University of Texas’s Neuroscience Online: Dr. James Knierim’s “Ch 2: Spinal Reflexes and Descending Motor Pathways” (HTML and Adobe Flash)

Instructions: Scroll down and read paragraph on the “Reticulospinal tract.”

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9.2.6 Premotor and Motor Cortices

Reading: The University of Texas’s Neuroscience Online: Dr. James Knierim’s “Ch 3: Motor Cortex”
Link: The University of Texas’s Neuroscience Online: Dr. James Knierim’s “Ch 3: Motor Cortex” (HTML and Adobe Flash)

Instructions: Read the entire webpage.

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9.2.7 Homonculus of Primary Motor Cortex

Note: This topic is covered by the reading assigned beneath sub-subunit 9.2.6. Please focus on the section beginning “Like the somatosensory cortex of the postcentral gyrus…” and Figure 3.3.

9.2.8 Upper Motor Neuron Syndrome

Reading: The University of Texas’s Neuroscience Online: Dr. James Knierim’s “Ch 6: Disorders of the Motor System”
Link: The University of Texas’s Neuroscience Online: Dr. James Knierim’s “Ch 6: Disorderes of the Motor System” (HTML and Adobe Flash)

Instructions: Scroll down and read the paragraph on “Upper Motor Neuron Syndrome.”

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9.3 Movement Modulation

9.3.1 Basal Ganglia and Cerebellum Components

Reading: The University of Texas’s Neuroscience Online: Dr. James Knierim’s “Ch 4: Basal Ganglia”
Link: The University of Texas’s Neuroscience Online: Dr. James Knierim’s “Ch 4: Basal Ganglia” (HTML)

Instructions: Read the entire webpage. This reading also covers sections 9.3.3 and 9.3.4.

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9.3.2 Corticostriatal Tract

Reading: NCBI Bookshelf’s version of Sinauer Associates, Inc., Purves, Augustine, Fitzpatrick, et al., editors’ Neuroscience, 2nd Edition: “Ch 18: Projections to the Basal Ganglia”
Link: NCBI Bookshelf’s version of Sinauer Associates, Inc., Purves, Augustine, Fitzpatrick, et al., editors’ Neuroscience, 2nd Edition: “Ch 18:Projections to the Basal Ganglia” (HTML)

Instructions: Read the entire webpage.

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9.3.3 Globus Pallidus and Putamen

Note: This topic is covered by the reading beneath sub-subunit 9.3.1.

9.3.4 Projections from Basal Ganglia

Note: This topic is covered by the reading beneath sub-subunit 9.3.1.

9.3.5 Basal Ganglia Loops

Reading: NCBI Bookshelf’s version of Sinauer Associates, Inc., Purves, Augustine, Fitzpatrick, et al., editors’ Neuroscience, 2nd Edition: “Box C - Basal Ganglia Loops and Non-Motor Brain Functions”
Link: NCBI Bookshelf’s version of Sinauer Associates, Inc., Purves, Augustine, Fitzpatrick, et al., editors’ Neuroscience, 2nd Edition: “Box C - Basal Ganglia Loops and Non-Motor Brain Functions” (HTML)

Instructions: Read the entire webpage, and carefully review the figure.

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9.3.6 Spinocerebellar Tract

Reading: The University of Texas’s Neuroscience Online: Dr. Nachum Dafny’s “Ch 3: Anatomy of the Spinal Cord”
Link: The University of Texas’s Neuroscience Online: Dr. Nachum Dafny’s “Ch 3: Anatomy of the Spinal Cord” (HTML)

Instructions: Read the webpage.

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9.3.7 Cortico-ponto-cerebellar Pathway

Web Media: YouTube: Drawtoknowit’s “Corticopontocerebellar Pathway”
Link: YouTube: Drawtoknowit’s “Corticopontocerebellar Pathway” (HTML)

Instructions: Watch the brief, half-minute video.

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9.3.8 Cortical Projections to Cerebellum

Reading: NCBI Bookshelf’s version of Sinauer Associates, Inc., Purves, Augustine, Fitzpatrick, et al., editors’ Neuroscience, 2nd Edition: “Projections to Cerebellum”
Link: NCBI Bookshelf’s version of Sinauer Associates, Inc., Purves, Augustine, Fitzpatrick, et al., editors’ Neuroscience, 2nd Edition: “Projections to Cerebellum” (HTML)

Instructions: Read the entire webpage, and click on the embedded hyperlinks, particularly to explore all figures.

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9.3.9 Cerebellar Circuits

Reading: NCBI Bookshelf’s version of Sinauer Associates, Inc., Purves, Augustine, Fitzpatrick, et al., editors’ Neuroscience, 2nd Edition: “Circuits within the Cerebellum”
Link: NCBI Bookshelf’s version of Sinauer Associates, Inc., Purves, Augustine, Fitzpatrick, et al., editors’ Neuroscience, 2nd Edition: “Circuits within the Cerebellum” (HTML)

Instructions: Read the entire webpage, and click on the embedded hyperlinks, particularly to explore all figures.

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9.4 Visceral Motor Control

9.4.1 Unique Features of Visceral Control

Reading: NCBI Bookshelf’s version of Sinauer Associates, Inc., Purves, Augustine, Fitzpatrick, et al., editors’ Neuroscience, 2nd Edition: “Central Control of the Visceral Motor Functions”
Link: NCBI Bookshelf’s version of Sinauer Associates, Inc., Purves, Augustine, Fitzpatrick, et al., editors’ Neuroscience, 2nd Edition: “Central Control of the Visceral Motor Functions” (HTML)

Instructions: Read the entire webpage, and click on the embedded hyperlinks, particularly to explore all figures.

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9.4.2 Sympathetic Division

Reading: NCBI Bookshelf’s version of Sinauer Associates, Inc., Purves, Augustine, Fitzpatrick, et al., editors’ Neuroscience, 2nd Edition: “Ch 21: The Sympathetic Division of the Visceral Motor System”
Link: NCBI Bookshelf’s version of Sinauer Associates, Inc., Purves, Augustine, Fitzpatrick, et al., editors’ Neuroscience, 2nd Edition: “Ch 21: The Sympathetic Division of the Visceral Motor System” (HTML)

Instructions: Read the entire webpage, and click on the embedded hyperlinks, particularly to explore all figures.

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9.4.3 Parasympathetic Division

Reading: NCBI Bookshelf’s version of Sinauer Associates, Inc., Purves, Augustine, Fitzpatrick, et al., editors’ Neuroscience, 2nd Edition: “Ch 21: The Parasympathetic Division of the Visceral Motor System”
Link: NCBI Bookshelf’s version of Sinauer Associates, Inc., Purves, Augustine, Fitzpatrick, et al., editors’ Neuroscience, 2nd Edition: “Ch 21: The Parasympathetic Division of the Visceral Motor System” (HTML)

Instructions: Read the entire webpage, and click on the hyperlinks to all figures.

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9.4.4 Enteric System

Reading: NCBI Bookshelf’s version of Sinauer Associates, Inc., Purves, Augustine, Fitzpatrick, et al., editors’ Neuroscience, 2nd Edition: “Ch 21: The Enteric System”
Link: NCBI Bookshelf’s version of Sinauer Associates, Inc., Purves, Augustine, Fitzpatrick, et al., editors’ Neuroscience, 2nd Edition: “Ch 21: The Enteric System” (HTML)

Instructions: Read the entire webpage, and click on the hyperlinks to all figures.

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9.4.5 Solitary Tract and Autonomic Control

Reading: The University of Texas’s Neuroscience Online: Dr. Patrick Dougherty’s “Ch 3: Central Control of the Nervous System and Thermoregulation”
Link: The University of Texas’s Neuroscience Online: Dr. Patrick Dougherty’s “Ch 3: Central Control of the Nervous System and Thermoregulation” (HTML and Adobe Flash)

Instructions: Read the section “Circuitry for Hypothalamic Control of the Autonomic Nervous System” and Figure 3.3.

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9.4.6 Central Autonomic Network

Reading: The University of Texas’s Neuroscience Online: Dr. Patrick Dougherty’s “Ch 3: Central Control of the Nervous System and Thermoregulation”
Link: The University of Texas’s Neuroscience Online: Dr. Patrick Dougherty’s“Ch 3: Central Control of the Nervous System and Thermoregulation” (HTML and Adobe Flash)

Instructions: Read the paragraphs on “Defining theCentral Autonomic Network” and the “Structure of the Central Autonomic Network.”

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9.4.7 α- and β-Adrenergic Receptors

Reading: NCBI Bookshelf’s version of Sinauer Associates, Inc., Purves, Augustine, Fitzpatrick, et al., editors’ Neuroscience, 2nd Edition: “Ch 7: Catecholamine Receptors”
Link: NCBI Bookshelf’s version of Sinauer Associates, Inc., Purves, Augustine, Fitzpatrick, et al., editors’ Neuroscience, 2nd Edition: “Ch7: Catecholamine Receptors” (HTML)

Instructions: Read the entire webpage, and click on all hyperlinks to figures.

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9.4.8 Cholinergic Receptors

Reading: NCBI Bookshelf’s version of Sinauer Associates, Inc., Purves, Augustine, Fitzpatrick, et al., editors’ Neuroscience, 2nd Edition: “Ch 7: Cholinergic Receptors”
Link: NCBI Bookshelf’s version of Sinauer Associates, Inc., Purves, Augustine, Fitzpatrick, et al., editors’ Neuroscience, 2nd Edition: “Ch 7: Cholinergic Receptors” (HTML)

Instructions: Read the entire webpage, and click on all hyperlinks to figures.

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Assessment: The Saylor Foundation’s “Unit 9 Assessment”
Link: The Saylor Foundation’s “Unit 9Assessment” (PDF)

Instructions: Please complete this quiz after working through Unit 9. The questions are either multiple choice, matching, or labeling diagrams. You can check your answers with the Saylor Foundation’s “Unit 9 Answer Key” (PDF).
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Unit 10: Cortical Brain Functions

The ability to talk, learn, and show emotion are among the most fundamental and intriguing functions of the human brain. This unit will provide an overview of these essential functions, known as “cortical brain functions” despite the fact that are quite complex and involve more than just the brain.

Much of our information about cortical brain function has been derived from examining the symptoms and profiles of patients with damage to specific regions of the brain. Recently, the development of noninvasive procedures has enabled us to examine “normal: subjects to further understand neurological mechanisms and thus led to the establishment of a sub-neuroscience field known as cognitive neuroscience. Researchers in this subfield strive to elucidate the molecular and physiological basis for these functions.

Unit 10 Time Advisory show close

Unit 10 Learning Outcomes show close

10.1 Cortex Overview

10.1.1 White Matter and Grey Matter

Reading: The University of Texas’s Neuroscience Online: Dr. Nachum Dafny’s “Ch 1: Overview of the Nervous System”
Link: The University of Texas’s Neuroscience Online: Dr. Nachum Dafny’s “Ch 1: Overview of the Nervous System” (HTML)

Instructions: Read the first paragraph on the linked page above.

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10.1.2 Cell Types

Reading: The University of Texas’s Neuroscience Online: Dr. Jack Waymire’s “Ch 8: Organization of Cell Types”
Link: The University of Texas’s Neuroscience Online: Dr. Jack Waymire’s “Ch 8: Organization of Cell Types” (HTML and Adobe Flash)

Instructions: Read the sections titled “Structural Variation” and “Naming Neurons.”

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10.1.3 Cortical Layers

Reading: NCBI Bookshelf’s version of Sinauer Associates, Inc., Purves, Augustine, Fitzpatrick, et al., editors’ Neuroscience, 2nd Edition: “Ch 26: Overview of the Cortical Structure”
Link: NCBI Bookshelf’s version of Sinauer Associates, Inc., Purves, Augustine, Fitzpatrick, et al., editors’ Neuroscience, 2nd Edition: “Ch 26: Overview of the Cortical Structure” (HTML)

Instructions: Read the entire webpage.

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10.1.4 Cortical Lobes

Reading: NCBI Bookshelf’s version of Sinauer Associates, Inc., Purves, Augustine, Fitzpatrick, et al., editors’ Neuroscience, 2nd Edition: “The Lateral Surface of the Brain”
Link: NCBI Bookshelf’s version of Sinauer Associates, Inc., Purves, Augustine, Fitzpatrick, et al., editors’ Neuroscience, 2nd Edition: “The Lateral Surface of the Brain” (HTML)

Instructions: Read the entire webpage, and click on the hyperlinks to figures.

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10.1.5 Brodmann Areas

Reading: NCBI Bookshelf’s version of Sinauer Associates, Inc., Purves, Augustine, Fitzpatrick, et al., editors’ Neuroscience, 2nd Edition: “Ch 26: An Overview of Cortical Structure”
Link: NCBI Bookshelf’sversion of Sinauer Associates, Inc., Purves, Augustine, Fitzpatrick, et al., editors’ Neuroscience, 2nd Edition: “Ch 26: An Overview of Cortical Structure”

Instructions: Read the entire webpage, click on the embedded hyperlinks, and focus on the figures and tables.

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Reading: University of Michigan’s “Brodmann Area”
Link: University of Michigan’s “Brodmann Area” (HTML)

Instructions: Read the webpage, and view the figures of different views of the brain.

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10.2 Association

10.2.1 Association Cortices

Reading: NCBI Bookshelf’s version of Sinauer Associates, Inc., Purves, Augustine, Fitzpatrick, et al., editors’ Neuroscience, 2nd Edition: Ch 26: The Association Cortices: “Overview: The Association Cortices” and “The Association Cortices”
Links: NCBI Bookshelf’s version of Sinauer Associates, Inc., Purves, Augustine, Fitzpatrick, et al., editors’ Neuroscience, 2nd Edition: Ch 26: The Association Cortices: “Overview: The Association Cortices”(HTML) and “The Association Cortices” (HTML)

Instructions: Read the webpages, and click on the hyperlink to Figure 26.1.

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10.2.2 Cortical Input and Output Areas

Reading: NCBI Bookshelf’s version of Sinauer Associates, Inc., Purves, Augustine, Fitzpatrick, et al., editors’ Neuroscience, 2nd Edition: “Ch 26: Figure 26.3”
Link: NCBI Bookshelf’s version of Sinauer Associates, Inc., Purves, Augustine, Fitzpatrick, et al., editors’ Neuroscience, 2nd Edition: “Ch 26: Figure 26.3” (HTML)

Instructions: Study the linked figure.

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10.2.3 Contralateral Neglect Syndrome

Reading: NCBI Bookshelf’s version of Sinauer Associates, Inc., Purves, Augustine, Fitzpatrick, et al., editors’ Neuroscience, 2nd Edition: “Lesions of the Parietal Association Cortex: Deficits of Attention”
Link: NCBI Bookshelf’s version of Sinauer Associates, Inc., Purves, Augustine, Fitzpatrick, et al., editors’ Neuroscience, 2nd Edition: “Lesions of the Parietal Association Cortex: Deficits of Attention” (HTML)

Instructions: Read the entire webpage. Click on all hyperlinks to figures.

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10.2.4 Deficits of Recognition and Planning

Reading: NCBI Bookshelf’s version of Sinauer Associates, Inc., Purves, Augustine, Fitzpatrick, et al., editors’ Neuroscience, 2nd Edition: “Planning Neurons”
Link: NCBI Bookshelf’s version of Sinauer Associates, Inc., Purves, Augustine, Fitzpatrick, et al., editors’ Neuroscience, 2nd Edition: “Planning Neurons”(HTML)

Instructions: Read the entire webpage, and click on all hyperlinks to figures.

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10.3 Speech and Language

10.3.1 Broca’s Area

Reading: NCBI Bookshelf’s version of Sinauer Associates, Inc., Purves, Augustine, Fitzpatrick, et al., editors’ Neuroscience, 2nd Edition: “Ch 27: Aphasias”
Link: NCBI Bookshelf’s version of Sinauer Associates, Inc., Purves, Augustine, Fitzpatrick, et al., editors’ Neuroscience, 2nd Edition: “Ch 27: Aphasias” (HTML)

Instructions: Read the entire webpage. This resource also covers section 10.3.2.

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10.3.2 Aphasias

Note: This topic is covered by the reading beneath sub-subunit 10.3.1.

10.3.3 Wernicke’s Area

Reading: Oracle ThinkQuest Education Foundation: “The Brain and Communication”
Link: Oracle ThinkQuest Education Foundation: “The Brain and Communication” (HTML)

Instructions: Read the entire webpage.

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10.3.4 Vocal Folds and Speech

Reading: The University of Texas’s Neuroscience Online: Dr. Nachum Dafny’s “Ch 8: Higher Cortical Functions: Language”
Link: The University of Texas’s Neuroscience Online: Dr. Nachum Dafny’s “Ch 8: Higher Cortical Functions: Language” (HTML and Adobe Flash)

Instructions: Read the paragraphs before the section titled “What Is language?”

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10.3.5 Right Hemisphere vs. Left Hemisphere

Reading: The University of Texas’s Neuroscience Online: Dr. Nachum Dafny’s “Ch 9: Higher Cortical Functions: Association and Executive Processing”
Link: The University of Texas’s Neuroscience Online: Dr. Nachum Dafny’s “Ch 9: Higher Cortical Functions: Association and Executive Processing” (HTML and Adobe Flash)

Instructions: Read the entire webpage. The left hemisphere is dominant in reasoning and language while the right hemisphere dominant in visual and audio stimuli as well as artistic ability. Be sure to understand the differences between the two hemispheres as well as how they connect in the cortex.

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10.3.6 Sign Language

Reading: NCBI Bookshelf’s version of Sinauer Associates, Inc., Purves, Augustine, Fitzpatrick, et al., editors’ Neuroscience, 2nd Edition: “Sign Language”
Link: NCBI Bookshelf’s version of Sinauer Associates, Inc., Purves, Augustine, Fitzpatrick, et al., editors’ Neuroscience, 2nd Edition: “Sign Language” (HTML)

Instructions: Read the entire webpage.

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10.4 Sleep and Wakefulness

10.4.1 Brain Changes during Sleep

Reading: NCBI Bookshelf’s version of Sinauer Associates, Inc., Purves, Augustine, Fitzpatrick, et al., editors’ Neuroscience, 2nd Edition: “Thalamocortical Interactions”
Link: NCBI Bookshelf’s version of Sinauer Associates, Inc., Purves, Augustine, Fitzpatrick, et al., editors’ Neuroscience, 2nd Edition: “Thalamocortical Interactions” (HTML)

Instructions: Read the entire webpage.

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10.4.2 Stages of Sleep

Reading: NCBI Bookshelf’s version of Sinauer Associates, Inc., Purves, Augustine, Fitzpatrick, et al., editors’ Neuroscience, 2nd Edition: “Stages of Sleep” and “The Possible Functions of REM Sleep and Dreaming”
Links: NCBI Bookshelf’s version of Sinauer Associates, Inc., Purves, Augustine, Fitzpatrick, et al., editors’ Neuroscience, 2nd Edition: “Stages of Sleep”(HTML) and “The Possible Functions of REM Sleep and Dreaming” (HTML)

Instructions: Read both webpages in their entirety, and click on the hyperlinks for the figures.

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10.4.3 Circadian Rhythm

Reading: NCBI Bookshelf’s version of Sinauer Associates, Inc., Purves, Augustine, Fitzpatrick, et al., editors’ Neuroscience, 2nd Edition: “The Circadian Cycle of Sleep and Wakefulness”
Link: NCBI Bookshelf’s version of Sinauer Associates, Inc., Purves, Augustine, Fitzpatrick, et al., editors’ Neuroscience, 2nd Edition: “The Circadian Cycle of Sleep and Wakefulness” (HTML)

Instructions: Read the entire webpage.

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10.4.4 Molecular Basis for Biological Clocks

Reading: NCBI: PubMed – PNAS: Dr. Norio Ishida et al.’s “Biological Clocks”
Link: NCBI: PubMed – PNAS: Dr. Norio Ishida et al.’s “Biological Clocks” (HTML)

Instructions: Read the entire article.

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10.4.5 Neural Circuits of Sleep

Reading: NCBI Bookshelf’s version of Sinauer Associates, Inc., Purves, Augustine, Fitzpatrick, et al., editors’ Neuroscience, 2nd Edition: “Neural Circuits Governing Sleep”
Link: NCBI Bookshelf’s version of Sinauer Associates, Inc., Purves, Augustine, Fitzpatrick, et al., editors’ Neuroscience, 2nd Edition: “Neural Circuits Governing Sleep” (HTML)

Instructions: Read the entire webpage, and click on the hyperlinks for the figures.

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10.4.6 Drugs and Sleep

Reading: WebMD: “Drug Treatment for Sleep Problems”
Link: WebMD: “Drug Treatment for Sleep Problems” (HTML)

Instructions: Read the entire article.

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10.4.7 Narcolepsy and Insomnia

Reading: NCBI Bookshelf’s version of Sinauer Associates, Inc., Purves, Augustine, Fitzpatrick, et al., editors’ Neuroscience, 2nd Edition: “Ch 28: Sleep Disorders”
Link: NCBI Bookshelf’s version of Sinauer Associates, Inc., Purves, Augustine, Fitzpatrick, et al., editors’ Neuroscience, 2nd Edition: “Ch 28: Sleep Disorders” (HTML)

Instructions: Read the paragraphs on “Insomnia” and “Narcolepsy.”

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10.5 Emotion

10.5.1 Autonomic System and Emotions

Reading: NCBI Bookshelf’s version of Sinauer Associates, Inc., Purves, Augustine, Fitzpatrick, et al., editors’ Neuroscience, 2nd Edition: “Ch 29: Physiological Changes Associated with Emotion”
Link: NCBI Bookshelf’s version of Sinauer Associates, Inc., Purves, Augustine, Fitzpatrick, et al., editors’ Neuroscience, 2nd Edition: “Ch 29: Physiological Changes Associated with Emotion” (HTML)

Instructions: Read the entire webpage.

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10.5.2 Limbic System

Reading: NCBI Bookshelf’s version of Sinauer Associates, Inc., Purves, Augustine, Fitzpatrick, et al., editors’ Neuroscience, 2nd Edition: “Ch 29: The Limbic System”
Link: NCBI Bookshelf’s version of Sinauer Associates, Inc., Purves, Augustine, Fitzpatrick, et al., editors’ Neuroscience, 2nd Edition: “Ch 29: The Limbic System” (HTML)

Instructions: Read the entire webpage.

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10.5.3 Amygdala and Fear

Reading: NCBI Bookshelf’s version of Sinauer Associates, Inc., Purves, Augustine, Fitzpatrick, et al., editors’ Neuroscience, 2nd Edition: “Ch 29: The Importance of the Amygdala”
Link: NCBI Bookshelf’s version of Sinauer Associates, Inc., Purves, Augustine, Fitzpatrick, et al., editors’ Neuroscience, 2nd Edition: “Ch 29: The Importance of the Amygdala” (HTML)

Instructions: Read the entire webpage.

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10.5.4 Affective Disorders

Reading: NCBI Bookshelf’s version of Sinauer Associates, Inc., Purves, Augustine, Fitzpatrick, et al., editors’ Neuroscience, 2nd Edition: “Box E - Affective Disorders”
Link: NCBI Bookshelf’s version of Sinauer Associates, Inc., Purves, Augustine, Fitzpatrick, et al., editors’ Neuroscience, 2nd Edition: “Box E - Affective Disorders” (HTML)

Instructions: Read the entire webpage.

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10.6 Memory

10.6.1 Declarative and Nondeclarative Memory

Reading: The University of Texas’s Neuroscience Online: Dr. John Byrne’s “Ch 7: Learning and Memory”
Link: The University of Texas’s Neuroscience Online: Dr. John Byrne’s “Ch 7: Learning and Memory” (HTML and Adobe Flash)

Instructions: Read the entire webpage, and then take the quiz at the end of the page.

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10.6.2 Immediate, Short-term, and Long-term Memory

Reading: NCBI Bookshelf’s version of Sinauer Associates, Inc., Purves, Augustine, Fitzpatrick, et al., editors’ Neuroscience, 2nd Edition: “Ch 31: Temporal Categories of Memory”
Link: NCBI Bookshelf’s version of Sinauer Associates, Inc., Purves, Augustine, Fitzpatrick, et al., editors’ Neuroscience, 2nd Edition: “Ch 31: Temporal Categories of Memory” (HTML)

Instructions: Read the entire webpage.

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10.6.3 Consolidation and Association for Long-term Memory

Reading: NCBI Bookshelf’s version of Sinauer Associates, Inc., Purves, Augustine, Fitzpatrick, et al., editors’ Neuroscience, 2nd Edition: Ch 31: “The Long-term Storage of Information” and “The Importance of Association in Information Storage”
Links: NCBI Bookshelf’s version of Sinauer Associates, Inc., Purves, Augustine, Fitzpatrick, et al., editors’ Neuroscience, 2nd Edition: Ch 31: “The Long-term Storage of Information”(HTML) and “The Importance of Association in Information Storage” (HTML)

Instructions: Read both webpages in their entirety.

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10.6.4 Brain Structures Associated with Memory

Reading: Canadian Institutes of Health Research: “The Brain from Top to Bottom:” “Short-term Memory”
Link: Canadian Institutes of Health Research: “The Brain from Top to Bottom:” “Short-term Memory” (HTML)

Instructions: Read the entire webpage, and click on hyperlinks on the webpage.

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10.6.5 Forgetting and Amnesia

Reading: BrainMaps.com: Neurological Disorders: “Amnesia”
Link: BrainMaps.com: Neurological Disorders: “Amnesia” (HTML)

Instructions: Read the entire webpage.

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10.6.6 Alzheimer’s Disease

Assessment: The Saylor Foundation’s “Unit 10 Assessment”
Link: The Saylor Foundation’s “Unit 10Assessment” (PDF)

Instructions: Please complete this quiz after working through Unit 10. The questions are either multiple choice, matching, or labeling diagrams. You can check your answers with the Saylor Foundation’s “Unit 10 Answer Key” (PDF).
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Lecture: Howard Hughes Medical Institute: Neuroscience Lecture Series -- 2008 Holiday Lectures: “Making Your Mind: Molecules, Motion, and Memory”
Link: Howard Hughes Medical Institute: Neuroscience Lecture Series -- 2008 Holiday Lectures: “Making Your Mind: Molecules, Motion, and Memory” (Adobe Flash or RealPlayer)

Instructions: In the 2008 Holiday Lectures section, click on the link to “Lecture 4 – Memories Are Made of This by Eric R. Kandel, M.D.” Then, on the right margin, click on “31. Aging, memory loss, and Alzheimer disease” and “32. The Alzheimer associated Aβ peptide is toxic to neurons.”

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Final Exam

Final Exam: The Saylor Foundation's "BIO303 Final Exam"
Link: The Saylor Foundation's "BIO303 Final Exam"

Instructions: You must be logged into your Saylor Foundation School account in order to access this exam. If you do not yet have an account, you will be able to create one, free of charge, after clicking the link.
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