NSCI Lecture 1

Neuroscience: the study of the structure, function, and emergent behavior of nervous systems

Molecular neuroscience: Molecular biology and genetic approach to study neurons & nervous system

Cellular neuroscience: Understanding the cellular morphology and physiology of neurons, including membrane, synaptic transmission, and more

Developmental neuroscience: The study of how the nervous system assembles itself during its development,
and how it changes with age and experience

Systems neuroscience: examines how elements of the nervous system (neurons, cell types, brain areas) work together to generate a function (perception, behavior, cognition). That function is an emergent property of the interaction and integration across elements

Cognitive neuroscience: Understanding how cognitive faculties arise from nervous systems. Decision making, planning, learning and memory, attention

Computational & theoretical neuroscience: Mathematical, analytical, AI/CS, approach to neuroscience to understand information coding schemes and theoretical principles underlying nervous system function

Clinical and translational neuroscience: Study of mechanisms of neurological diseases and their treatment, ranges from studying patients, clinical trials, and discovering basic neurobiological mechanisms of disease

Neuroengineering: Development of technologies to interface with the nervous system

Nervous system: A complex network composed of specialized cells, called neurons, which relay signals in order to control or coordinate organisms’ behaviors. Can vary in size and complexity across organisms (several hundred neurons to 100 billion neurons)

Neurons work by: releasing neurotransmitters down the axon through the completion of action potentials

The primary purpose of a nervous system: turning mechanical impulses into electrical impulses

Determining the right spatial and temporal scales to study the brain with:

Examples of spatial scales for studying the nervous system: human population behavior, individual behavior, brain/lobe (cm), brain region (mm), neuron/circuit (10 μm), synapse (.01 μm), molecule/atom

Tools to observe individual behavior: eye tracking, behavioral measurement

Tools to observe the brain/lobe: Electroencephalogram (EEG) is used, is quick but coarse

Tools to observe a brain region: Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (FMRI)

Tools to observe a neuron/circuit (10 μm): single neuron electrophysiology can look at just one cell

Examples of temporal scales for studying the nervous system: year/decade, month, day, second, millisecond, microsecond

When may it be better to use a year/decade as the temporal scale?: when you’re studying aging, development, memory, nutrition, or microbiome

When may it be better to use a month as the temporal scale?: when you’re studying neural development, long-term memory

When may it be better to use a day as the temporal scale?: when you’re studying circadian rhythms, learning

When may it be better to use a second as the temporal scale?: when you’re studying short-term memory, and likely also using FMRI

When may it be better to use a millisecond as the temporal scale?: when you’re studying neuron spiking during a behavior

When may it be better to use a microsecond as the temporal scale?: when you're studying ion currents, phototransduction, sound localization