Syllabus

Course Meeting Times

Lectures: 1 session / week, 1.5 hours / session

Recitations: 1 session / week, 1.5 hours / session


Course 9.16 (Undergraduate) and Couse 9.161 (Graduate) meet together. An additional project is required for graduate credit.

Prerequisites

  • 9.01 for undergraduate students.
  • 9.011 for graduate students.

Schedule

  • Lecture 1.5 hr. and Recitation 1.5 hr.

Course Highlights

  • Surveys the molecular and cellular mechanisms of neuronal communication.
  • Covers ion channels in excitable membrane, synaptic transmission, and synaptic plasticity.
  • Correlates the properties of ion channels and synaptic transmission with their physiological function such as learning and memory.
  • Discusses the organization principles for the formation of functional neural networks at synapse and cellular levels.

Course Requirements

  • 3 Problem sets
  • Lab Project
    • Class will be split into three groups; sign-up sheet will be provided in ses #8.
  • Class participation
  • Attendance
    • Participation and presentation in class
  • Graduate students only: final project
  • Final exam

Books

  • Johnston, and Wu. Foundations of Cellular Neurophysiology. MIT Press.
  • Hille. Ionic Channels of Excitable Membranes, 3rd Edition. Sinauer Associates, Inc.
  • Levitan, and Kaczmarek. The Neuron. Oxford University Press.