Course Schedule and Catalog

Long Title: THEORETICAL NEURSCIENCE

Department: Neuroscience

Grade Mode: Standard Letter

Course Type: Lecture

Credit Hours: 3

Description: This course introduces current theoretical methods used to model the properties of nerve cells and the processing of information by neuronal networks. Concrete examples that can be implemented using MATLAB will be emphasized. The starting point is the passive cable properties of single neurons and the Hodgkin-Huxley model of action potential generation. Subsequently, models of synaptic transmission and active properties of dendritic trees will be considered. This will be followed by stochastic properties of single neurons and information encoding using mean and instantaneous firing rates in visual neurons. Finally, methods to analyze phase-locking and activity in populations of cells as well as learning algorithms will be considered. Course taught at Baylor College of Medicine. Cross-list: CAAM 415.

Long Title: INDEPENDENT STUDY IN NEUROSCIENCE

Department: Neuroscience

Grade Mode: Standard Letter

Course Type: Research

Credit Hours: 1 TO 3

Description: This course allows students to engage in research with faculty in the Neuroscience program at Rice as well as at Baylor and UT-Medical and receive credit for their independent research. Instructor Permission Required. Repeatable for Credit.

Long Title: COGNITIVE NEUROSCIENCE I

Department: Neuroscience

Grade Mode: Standard Letter

Course Type: Seminar

Credit Hours: 3

Description: Overview of neuropsychological and cognitive neuroscience approaches to higher mental functions including sensation and perception, attention, motor control, and neuroplasticity. Other topics include basic neuroanatomy, experimental and clinical investigative methods and the historical and philosophical context of contemporary neuroscience. Course taught at Baylor College of Medicine. Cross-list: PSYC 575.

Long Title: COGNITIVE NEUROSCIENCE II

Department: Neuroscience

Grade Mode: Standard Letter

Course Type: Lecture

Credit Hours: 3

Description: Overview of neuropsychological and cognitive service approaches to higher mental functions including language, memory, executive functions, reasoning, and numerical processing. Course taught at Baylor College of Medicine. Cross-list: PSYC 576.

Long Title: CELLULAR NEUROPHYSIOLOGY I & II

Department: Neuroscience

Grade Mode: Standard Letter

Course Type: Seminar

Credit Hours: 3

Prerequisite(s): PHYS 125 AND MATH 101

Description: Properties of excitable nerve membranes and chemical synapses; theory of ions in solutions, ion conduction through membranes, ion transport, linear cable theory, nonlinear properties of neurons, + stochastic properties of single ion channels, synaptic transmission, the role of calcium and transmitter release, + postsynaptic mechanism. Taught at Baylor College of Medicine; check NEUR website. Instructor Permission Required. Repeatable for Credit.

Long Title: OPTICAL IMAGING

Department: Neuroscience

Grade Mode: Standard Letter

Course Type: Lecture

Credit Hours: 3

Description: This course includes a theoretical portion which will introduce the fundamentals of optical imaging of neural activity, present the devices that are employed, and review applications and discuss their results. In addition, in a practical part, students will design, set up, and perform simple in vitro experiments to gain practical experience with this exciting and powerful technology. Course taught at Baylor College of Medicine. Instructor Permission Required.

Long Title: CONCEPTS OF LEARNING AND MEMORY

Department: Neuroscience

Grade Mode: Standard Letter

Course Type: Lecture

Credit Hours: 3

Description: This course is designed to introduce graduate students to the field of learning and memory. This field has exploded in the last few years with the introduction of new techniques, new approaches, and new concepts. The course will introduce the student to classical and modern concepts of learning and memory across all levels at which learning and memory is studied, including behavioral, anatomical, cellular, molecular and genetic levels of analysis. The basic concepts of learning and memory will also be related to known diseases of learning and memory. Course taught at Baylor College of Medicine. Instructor Permission Required.

Long Title: INTEGRATIVE NEUROSCIENCE CORE I

Department: Neuroscience

Grade Mode: Standard Letter

Course Type: Lecture/Laboratory

Credit Hours: 5

Description: A broad introductory survey covering all aspects of neuroscience, team-taught by faculty from Baylor College of Medicine. Includes a lab at Baylor. This is the entry level neuroscience course for all Rice students. Please contact Dr. James Pomerantz if you wish to enroll. Instructor Permission Required.

Long Title: INTEGRATIVE NEUROSCIENCE CORE II

Department: Neuroscience

Grade Mode: Standard Letter

Course Type: Lecture/Laboratory

Credit Hours: 5

Prerequisite(s): NEUR 511

Description: A broad introductory survey covering all aspects of neuroscience, team-taught by faculty from Baylor College of Medicine. A continuation of NEUR 511. Course taught at Baylor College of Medicine.

Long Title: NEURAL DEVELOPMENT

Department: Neuroscience

Grade Mode: Standard Letter

Course Type: Lecture

Credit Hours: 3

Description: An advanced graduate course focusing on molecular genetic studies. Integrates molecular patterning of nervous system with developmental neuroscience using a cross-species approach, with an emphasis on the visual system. Topics include the biochemical and genetic basis for neural plasticity, neurotrophic factors in neural development, and the molecular mechanism of growth core guidance and synapse formation. Course taught at Baylor College of Medicine. Instructor Permission Required.

Long Title: SENSORY SYSTEMS

Department: Neuroscience

Grade Mode: Standard Letter

Course Type: Lecture

Credit Hours: 3

Description: A two-part course covering sensory transduction in audition, touch, and the chemical senses, and a detailed coverage of the visual system, including retinal structures and central pathways, phototransduction, receptive fields, and functional organization in the cortex. Course taught at Baylor College of Medicine. Instructor Permission Required.

Long Title: MECHANISMS OF MEMORY

Department: Neuroscience

Grade Mode: Standard Letter

Course Type: Lecture

Credit Hours: 3

Description: Synthesizes our understanding of the mechanism of higher-order memory formation covering learning theory, cellular physiology and biochemistry and discussing memory disorders. Instructor Permission Required.

Long Title: TEN UNSOLVED QUESTIONS IN NEUROSCIENCE

Department: Neuroscience

Grade Mode: Standard Letter

Course Type: Lecture

Credit Hours: 3

Description: Neuroscience has yet to establish its general principles. This course introduces the major topics including memory, sleep, consciousness, information in neural activity, emotions, plasticity, and intelligence. Each week's lecture introduces a new problem, addressing why the question is important, its history, current thinking, and what we have learned. Course taught at Baylor College of Medicine. Instructor Permission Required.

Long Title: SEMINAR ON LAW, BRAINS AND BEHAVIOR

Department: Neuroscience

Grade Mode: Standard Letter

Course Type: Seminar

Credit Hours: 3

Description: This is a neuroscience seminar offerred by a Baylor instructor. It will be relevant for graduate students at Rice as well as some undergraduate students interested in neuroscience and law. This course addresses how new discoveries in neuroscience will intersect with the making of law, the punishment of criminals, and the development of new rehabilitation strategies. The readings will bring together a unique conjunction of neurobiology, legal scholarship, and policy making. The goals of the course will be to facilitate an understanding of the neurobiological underpinnings of behaviors that are subject to legal consequences for individuals and groups, and using this emerging base of scientific information to design modern, evidence-based policy. For more information, please see course website. Instructor Permission Required.

Long Title: NEUROANATOMY: FUNCTIONAL ORGANIZATION OF THE CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM

Department: Neuroscience

Grade Mode: Standard Letter

Course Type: Lecture

Credit Hours: 2 TO 3

Description: Anatomy and function of components of the nervous system with an emphasis on the central nervous system. This course is offered for Rice psychology graduate undergraduate students. Course taught at Baylor College of Medicine. Instructor Permission Required.

Long Title: HIGHER BRAIN FUNCTION

Department: Neuroscience

Grade Mode: Standard Letter

Course Type: Seminar

Credit Hours: 3

Description: Aspects of systems' neuroscience related to higher brain fucntion: (1) role of limbic system in higher brain functions, (2) role of the extended amygdala and the mesolimbic system in reward and addiction, (3) discussion of human brain porcesses includeing decision making, goal directed learning and representation of self and others. Course taught at Baylor College of Medicine. Instructor Permission Required.

Long Title: NEUROBIOLOGY OF SENSATION AND MOVEMENT

Department: Neuroscience

Grade Mode: Standard Letter

Course Type: Lecture

Credit Hours: 3

Description: This course provides an overview of basic systems neuroscience. The course covers the mechanisms of sensory transduction in various modalities, the development and organization of sensory pathways using the visual system as an example, the control and execution of motor programs at various levels of the central nervous system. Taught by faculty at Baylor College of Medicine. Instructor Permission Required.

Long Title: PHYSIOLOGY OF VISUAL SYSTEM

Department: Neuroscience

Grade Mode: Standard Letter

Course Type: Lecture

Credit Hours: 3

Description: Course provides an advanced level and comprehensive coverage of the physiology of the retina and visual cortex. Useful for graduate students and postdocs in neuroscience, physiology, biochemistry, cell biology, and molecular genetics who are interested in visual information processing and brain function. Offered even years only. Instructor Permission Required.