Brain Sciences: From Molecules to Mind

Optional Courses

Students select one course in Neuroscience and one in Psychology. The timing of the options is variable and we will advise students on the scheduling of individual courses in semesters 1&2 to aid workload planning at the start of the programme. 

EXAMPLES OF OPTIONAL COURSES IN NEUROSCIENCE – others may be available

CNS Neurotransmitters and Drug Development

Organiser: Prof Trevor Stone

The course will consist of seminars, student presentations on recent papers and a suggested reading list which, together with students’ own trawling of medical databases and literature, will allow consideration of a range of substances proposed as neurotransmitters and / or neuromodulators in the mammalian CNS. The areas covered will include excitatory and inhibitory amino acids, acetylcholine, dopamine, 5-hydroxytryptamine, cannabinoids and peptides such as substance P, cholecystokinin, somatostatin and opioids, with special emphasis on pain and Alzheimer’s disease. Each of these areas will be considered in depth, along with their importance and implications for drug development, and relevant aspects of the basis of disease states. The course will assume that you have a good knowledge of basic, classical CNS pharmacology.

Diseases of the Nervous System

Organiser: Prof Brian Morris

The course covers many of the major diseases of the nervous system. There are four areas:

(1) infectious diseases with specificity for the nervous system

(2) genetic diseases including the major neurodegenerative diseases

(3) stroke

(4) autoimmune diseases of the nervous system

A session to introduce neuroscience students to the basic concepts of human genetics for area 2 is provided.

The infectious disease sessions will deal with selected viral infections of the nervous system, HIV in the nervous system and spongiform encephalopathies (prion diseases). The major neurodegenerative diseases — Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, Triplet repeat diseases (e.g. Huntington’s) and ALS (motor neurone disease) — are covered, and epilepsy and Rett syndrome are presented as genetic diseases of the nervous system.

Stroke and the responses of CNS cells to ischaemia will be considered.

Multiple sclerosis and Guillain-Barré syndrome are presented as nervous system diseases with an autoimmune component.

Advanced Neuroanatomy

Organiser: Dr David Hughes

The aim of the course is to introduce a wide range of important contemporary topics in development, responses to injury, potential strategies for repair and techniques used in mapping functional circuitry in the mammalian nervous system.

Content:

• Some responses by the CNS to injury

Clinical phases of injury to the CNS: classification, description and pathobiology. Responses to either ischaemia or mechanical trauma by different cell types within the CNS: cellular degenerative pathways and the potential for therapeutic intervention to improve patient outcome.

• Chemical Neuroanatomy

Describe methods used in chemical neuroanatomy: describe the organisation of CNS pathways which contain acetylcholine, serotonin, noradrenaline and dopamine: discuss the neurochemistry of the spinal cord with respect to glutamate acetylcholine and monoamines.

• The dorsal horn in the spinal cord

Neurotransmitter systems underlying endogenous pain control circuits: functions of neuropeptides in spinal cord: changes in dorsal horn after injury: development of drug therapies in a variety of pain syndromes.

• Neuroanatomical features of hippocampal and cortical neuron circuits

The human brain contains roughly 100 billion neurons, each linked to other neurons by up to 10,000 synaptic connections. Neuronal circuits in the cortex and hippocampus will be discussed in regard to generation of behaviours that promote our welfare and the laying down of new memories. In addition, anatomical changes associated with the development of dementia will be reviewed.

• Spinal cord injuries and strategies for repair

Loss of function following spinal cord injury and its relation to the anatomical organisation of the spinal cord: reasons for the failure of axonal regeneration: experimental treatments for promoting repair: regeneration, remyelination and plasticity: prospects for clinical translation of cell transplant strategies.

EXAMPLES OF OPTIONAL COURSES IN PSYCHOLOGY – others may be available

Cognitive neuroscience: Insights into Brain Plasticity

Organiser: Professor Gregor Thut

This course will survey recent advances in understanding the brain-behaviour relationship by non-invasive transcranial brain stimulation, complemented by classical neuropsychological and modern neuroimaging approaches. Rather than focusing mainly on functional deficits, the course will highlight paradoxical (sometimes productive) effects of stimulation/lesions and use these as windows to introduce some of the key aspects of brain organization.

Cognitive Neuroscience of Ageing

Organiser: Dr Guillaume Rousselet

This course provides an introduction to the field of cognitive ageing, with a particular emphasis on age-related neuronal changes. Examples from the literature will be discussed, showing how the structural and functional alterations of neuronal networks affect cognitive performance in healthy and pathological ageing.

fMRI Biopsychology

Organiser: Professor Lars Muckli

Functional brain imaging has become an essential tool in Biopsychology and Neuroscience that has changed the way we think about the brain today. This course aims to give an in-depth introduction to the basics of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). The course will cover physical and physiological basics of the fMRI-signal, experimental strategies, and analysis principles.

Sleep and Circadian Timing

Organiser: Stephany Biello

This course aims to provide an overview of current study within the fields of sleep and circadian timing. It will examine the biological, psychological and social impacts of disruption of sleep and circadian timing focusing on mechanism of action and treatment.