Understanding the Brain: The Neurobiology of Everyday Life
Description
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About this course: Learn how the nervous system produces behavior, how we use our brain every day, and how neuroscience can explain the common problems afflicting people today. We will study functional human neuroanatomy and neuronal communication, and then use this information to understand how we perceive the outside world, move our bodies voluntarily, stay alive, and play well with others.
Who is this class for: This class is designed to be self-contained and accessible to anyone, from non-scientists interested in the material to those who have already had some formal training in neurobiology.
Created by: The University of Chicago-
Taught by: Peggy Mason, Professor
…
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When you enroll for courses through Coursera you get to choose for a paid plan or for a free plan .
- Free plan: No certicification and/or audit only. You will have access to all course materials except graded items.
- Paid plan: Commit to earning a Certificate—it's a trusted, shareable way to showcase your new skills.
About this course: Learn how the nervous system produces behavior, how we use our brain every day, and how neuroscience can explain the common problems afflicting people today. We will study functional human neuroanatomy and neuronal communication, and then use this information to understand how we perceive the outside world, move our bodies voluntarily, stay alive, and play well with others.
Who is this class for: This class is designed to be self-contained and accessible to anyone, from non-scientists interested in the material to those who have already had some formal training in neurobiology.
Created by: The University of Chicago-
Taught by: Peggy Mason, Professor
Neurobiology
Each course is like an interactive textbook, featuring pre-recorded videos, quizzes and projects.
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The University of Chicago One of the world's premier academic and research institutions, the University of Chicago has driven new ways of thinking since our 1890 founding. Today, UChicago is an intellectual destination that draws inspired scholars to our Hyde Park and international campuses, keeping UChicago at the nexus of ideas that challenge and change the world.Syllabus
WEEK 1
The Nervous System
Neurobiology is a rapidly growing area of scientific research, and is becoming increasingly prevalent in the news and popular culture. In this course, we will study of the nervous system from a biological perspective by exploring the fundamental concepts in neurobiology, including how we sense the world, how we act in the world, and common neurological disorders.
17 videos, 3 readings expand
- Video: Introduction: The Bauby Story
- Video: Ethics and Brain Science
- Video: I Am a Patient
- Video: The Four Functions
- Video: Central Anatomy
- Video: Meet the Stars: Neurons
- Video: Parts of the Neuron
- Video: Neuronal Uniqueness: Stars of the Sky
- Video: Glial Cells
- Video: Myelin
- Video: Demyelinating Diseases
- Video: Meninges
- Video: Peripheral Diseases
- Video: Brain Tumors
- Video: The Brain and the Spinal Cord
- Video: Meninges
- Video: Brain Tumors
- Reading: In-Video Quiz Questions and Answers
- Reading: Clinical Vignette: Brain Tumor
- Reading: Additional Resources
Graded: The Nervous System
WEEK 2
Neural Communication + Embodied Emotion
Neurons are the cells of the nervous system responsible for communicating, relaying, and integrating information. Neurons "talk" to other neurons through a special type of language that involves electrical signaling within individual neurons, and the use of chemical compounds known as neurotransmitters to communicate between neurons. In this module, you will learn more about how a neuron functions at rest, how information is relayed within a neuron, and how neurons relay information to other neurons or target tissues. In the second half of this module, you will be learning about how the body and emotions work together to produce our everyday emotional experiences. We will look at the enteric nervous system and learn how to discern whether the sympathetic or parasympathetic system is impacting our current emotional state.
17 videos, 2 readings expand
- Video: Electrical Language
- Video: Electricity Review
- Video: Action Potential
- Video: Neurotransmitter Synthesis
- Video: Neurotransmitter Release
- Video: Clostridial Toxins: Botox
- Video: Signal Termination
- Video: Receptors
- Video: Metabotropic Receptors
- Video: Wrap-Up: Neurocommunication
- Video: Introduction to Embodied Emotion
- Video: Enteric Nervous System
- Video: Parasympathetics & Sympathetics
- Video: Parasympathetic/Sympathetic Balance
- Video: Autonomic Pharmacology: Adjusting the PS/S System
- Video: Spinal Cord Injury
- Video: Wrap-Up: Embodied Emotion
- Reading: In-Video Quiz Questions and Answers
- Reading: Additional Resources
Graded: Neurocommunications
WEEK 3
Neuroanatomy
Neuroanatomy tells us how the nervous system is organized. Understanding the form of the brain is essential to understanding its function. By comparing the structure of the brain with a patient's symptoms, neurologists are able to identify the location of certain disorders. Studying how the human brain develops provides insight to why it is organized as it is. This module, you will learn about how the brain develops during gestation, some major pathways in the nervous system, and what can go wrong!
26 videos, 2 readings expand
- Video: Introduction to Neuroanatomy
- Video: Neural Tube Formation
- Video: Neural Tube Defects
- Video: Brain Vesicles
- Video: Expansion of the Cerebral Cortex
- Video: Two Forebrain Tracts
- Video: Cerebral Palsy
- Video: Nerves
- Video: CNS Regional Functions
- Video: Hemisphere Functions
- Video: Aphasia
- Video: Language Circuits
- Video: Making a Flat Schematic of the Brain
- Video: Oxygen and Cerebral Blood Flow
- Video: Blood Supply
- Video: Strokes and Tumors
- Video: Bleeds
- Video: Spinal Cord
- Video: Inside the Cranium
- Video: Telencephalon
- Video: Cortex
- Video: Cerebellum
- Video: Visual Pathway
- Video: Pituitary Tumors
- Video: Blood Supply
- Video: Hippocampus & Alzheimer's Disease
- Reading: In-Video Quiz Questions and Answers
- Reading: Additional Resource
Graded: Neuroanatomy
WEEK 4
Perception and Vision
Perception is how the brain interprets incoming stimuli. Not all stimuli that can be sensed are perceivable, and sometimes those that can be perceived play tricks on us. The systematic ways that stimuli are interpreted (or misinterpreted) show how well the brain can understand our surroundings, sometimes with limited information. This module we will explore perception and vision.This module contains a lot of material, so be sure to start early so that you have time to finish!
26 videos, 3 readings expand
- Video: Introduction to Perception
- Video: Sensory Interpretation: Optical Illusions
- Video: Sensory Interpretation: Auditory Illusions
- Video: Sensory Interpretation: Weber's Law
- Video: Stimulus Set
- Video: The Road to Perception
- Video: Name the Senses
- Video: The Visual Pathway
- Video: Distance Vision
- Video: Near Vision + Near Triad
- Video: Emmetropization
- Video: Light Path
- Video: Rods and Cones
- Video: Central Vision
- Video: Color Vision
- Video: Visual Fields
- Video: The Importance of Edges
- Video: Visual Perception
- Video: Learning to See
- Video: Sheep Brain vs Human Brain
- Video: Sheep Cerebellum
- Video: Sheep Brain Parts
- Video: Sheep Brainstem
- Video: Sheep Ventricles, pt.1
- Video: Sheep Ventricles, pt.2
- Video: Sheep Spinal Cord & Cauda Equina
- Reading: In-Video Quiz Questions and Answers
- Reading: Clinical Vignette: Albinism
- Reading: Additional Resources
Graded: Perception and Vision
WEEK 5
Hearing
The sound of birds chirping in the morning, a babbling brook or crashing waves on the beach, or warm conversation with the ones you love. The experience of all these things requires the ability to hear. Arguably the most important sense for human communication, it is also the most commonly impaired of our senses. In this module, you will learn how the human ear is artfully designed to enhance our ability to hear the human voice. You will follow sound waves as they travel from the external world, to the eardrum, through the bones of the middle ear, and to the cochlea that transduces sound information into neural impulses.
16 videos, 3 readings expand
- Video: Introduction to Hearing
- Video: Experiences of Hearing Loss
- Video: Hearing Pathways
- Video: External Ear
- Video: Rinne Test
- Video: Middle Ear
- Video: Inner Ear
- Video: Cochlear Amplifier
- Video: Outer Hair Cell Motility
- Video: Otoacoustic Emissions
- Video: Hearing Loss
- Video: Weber and Rinne
- Video: Expectation: Interpreting Sound
- Video: Prosody
- Video: Communication
- Video: Wrap-up: Hearing
- Reading: In-Video Quiz Questions and Answers
- Reading: Clinical Vignette: One Man's Story of Hearing
- Reading: Additional Resources
Graded: Hearing
WEEK 6
The Vestibular Sense & Gaze
The vestibular system and gaze control give us so much but are grossly under appreciated. They are so fundamental that we discount them, assuming that they will always be there. When the vestibular system fails us, its importance dominates our lives. Living with either a vestibular or an eye movement disorder is very disruptive to everyday life. In this module, you will learn how the inner ear is designed to detect and respond to head movements. You will learn about the circuit that connects the inner ear to the motoneurons that control the location of your eyes, allowing us to reflexively maintain our view of an object even as we move about in the world. Finally, we will talk about how you can modify this reflexive control of the eyes and how you can control where you are looking.
16 videos, 2 readings expand
- Video: Introduction to Vestibular Sense
- Video: The Vestibular Stimulus
- Video: Canals and Otoconial Masses
- Video: Hair Cell Orientation
- Video: Yoked End Organs, Part 1
- Video: Yoked End Organs, Part 2
- Video: Otoconial Disorders
- Video: Visual Integration
- Video: The VOR Is Fast
- Video: Horizontal VOR Circuitry
- Video: Nystagmus
- Video: Adapting the VOR
- Video: Eye Movements
- Video: Saccades
- Video: Saccade Circuits
- Video: Controlling Saccades
- Reading: In-Video Quiz Questions and Answers
- Reading: Additional Resources
Graded: The Vestibular Sense & Gaze
WEEK 7
Voluntary Movements
"Voluntary movements are how we interact with the world. The organization of the motor system has implications for how we move, and the types of movements we can make. This module we'll start to explore the organization of the motor system, from neurons to muscles. This module contains a lot of material, so be sure to start early so that you have time to finish!"
18 videos, 2 readings expand
- Video: Introduction to Voluntary Movement
- Video: Motor Hierarchy
- Video: Problems with Motor Hierarchy
- Video: Motor Modulation
- Video: Fast and Slow Fibers
- Video: Motoneuron Types
- Video: Orderly Recruitment
- Video: Exercise and Muscle Mass
- Video: Monosynaptic Reflex
- Video: Co-activation
- Video: Gamma Reflex Loop
- Video: Posture
- Video: Postural Control
- Video: Central Pattern Generator
- Video: Intro to Self-Generated Movements
- Video: Praxis
- Video: Emotional Movements
- Video: Wrap-up
- Reading: In-Video Quiz Questions and Answers
- Reading: Additional Resources
Graded: Voluntary Movements
WEEK 8
Motor Modulation
You should now have an understanding of how muscles function to initiate movements. However, the brain requires more than just the cerebral cortex to determine what movements to perform and to make those movements smooth and guided. This module, we'll explore the cerebellum and the basal ganglia, fascinating structures that play a major role in movement. You'll also learn how these brain regions are involved in motor learning and disease.
19 videos, 2 readings expand
- Video: The Data-Driven Cerebellum
- Video: The Purkinje Cell
- Video: Cerebellar Functions
- Video: Cerebellar Topography
- Video: Cerebellar Laterality
- Video: Efference Copy and Sensory Reafference
- Video: Cerebellar Learning and the VOR
- Video: Extreme Vestibular Plasticity (optional)
- Video: Cerebellar Learning
- Video: Action Selection
- Video: Basal Ganglia Anatomy
- Video: Basal Ganglia Pathways
- Video: Basal Ganglia Experiment (optional)
- Video: Operational Learning
- Video: Chunking
- Video: Parkinson's Disease
- Video: Non-Motor Functions of Basal Ganglia
- Video: Cerebellum and Basal Ganglia Cooperation
- Video: Wrap-Up: Voluntary Movement, part 2
- Reading: In-Video Quiz Questions and Answers
- Reading: Additional Resources
Graded: Motor Modulation
WEEK 9
Homeostasis
Although our bodies are very robust and we can live in a range of environments, our brain requires very specific conditions to function properly. Homeostasis is the active process by which our nervous system regulates internal conditions, such as blood pressure and temperature. This module we will explore what homeostasis does, and how it functions in everyday life.
13 videos, 2 readings expand
- Video: Introduction to Homeostasis
- Video: Hypothalamic Anatomy
- Video: Pituitary Gland & Gigantism
- Video: Post-Partum Mood Disorders
- Video: Thermoregulation
- Video: Hyperthermia
- Video: Fever and Hot Flashes
- Video: Breathing
- Video: Urination
- Video: Problems with the Urination System
- Video: Sleep Phenomenology
- Video: Sleep Mechanisms
- Video: Wrap-Up: Homeostasis
- Reading: In-Video Quiz Questions and Answers
- Reading: Additional Resources
Graded: Homeostasis
WEEK 10
Abstract Function
You've now learned an incredible amount about the way the brain functions to perceive and act upon the world we live in. You've gained an understanding of neurobiology on a cellular level, and how many diseases and disorders of the nervous system can affect our bodies and minds. In our final module, we will journey into the realms of emotion, attention, memory, and language. By the end of this module, you will have a greater understanding of the more abstract cognitive functions the brain.
18 videos, 2 readings expand
- Video: Introduction to Abstract Function
- Video: Bauby and Emotion
- Video: Thalamic Attention
- Video: Mushroom Hunting
- Video: Memory Types
- Video: PTSD
- Video: Semantic Memories
- Video: Episodic Memories
- Video: The Story of H.M.
- Video: Memory Formation Circuitry
- Video: Hollywood Amnesia
- Video: Clinical Amnesia
- Video: Introduction to Language
- Video: Aphasias
- Video: Prosody
- Video: Intellectual Disability
- Video: Your Brain, Your Illness
- Video: Future Challenges
- Reading: In-Video Quiz Questions and Answers
- Reading: Additional Resources
Graded: Introduction to Abstract Function
Graded: Final Project
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