Part 1 Neurons - cellular neuroscience: probing the brain - anatomical approaches - visualizing neurons, physiological approaches - recording electrical activity, molecular biological approaches - mapping molecules; cells and synapses - neurons and glia, neuronal structure, synapses; membranes and the resting potential - properties of neural potentials, membranes - their structure and electrical properties, resting potentials; action potentials and their propagation - the generation of action potentials, the propagation of action potentials; synaptic potentials - excitatory and inhibitory synapses, the Axon Hillock and the generation of action potentials, analyzing synaptic potentials, the neuromuscular junction; the chemistry of synaptic transmission - mechanisms of synaptic transmission, myasthenia gravis - a neuromuscular disease, neurotransmitters and neuromodulators; receptor potentials - mechanoreceptors, invertebrate photoreceptors, vertebrate photoreceptors; membrane channels and receptor proteins - the acetylcholine-gated channel; "Shaker" flies and potassium channels, visual pigments and receptor proteins. Part 2 Networks - integrative neuroscience: invertebrate nervous systems - nervous system design, mechanisms underlying behaviour; control of rhythmic motor behaviour - the heartbeat in the leech, swimming in "Tritonia", modulation of neural circuits; an invertabrate model of memory and learning - early theories, the Gill-withdrawal reflex in "Aplysia"; the neural circuitry of the reflex, long-term habituation and sensitization, a summary scheme of habituation and sensitization; the vertebrate brain - the central nervous system, the spinal cord, the brain; motor control in vertebrates - the autonomic nervous system, voluntary movement; retinal processing of visual information - the retina, the initial stages of visual processing, cellular mechanisms, functional organization of the retina, modulation of retinal synapses; cortical processing of visual information - the lateral geniculate nucleus, the visual cortex, binocular interaction and depth perception; the architecture of the visual cortex - lateral geniculate architecture, the visual cortex - area V1, cortical plasticity - the effects of visual deprivation, mechanisms underlying deprivation changes; the development of the brain - the neural plate, tube, and crest, the differentiation of enurons, axon projection and and synapse formation, axonal guidance; toward an understanding of higher brain function - higher cortical processing, studying the human brain. Appendix: electrical charge and circuits.
