This course involves the study of how signals from the prenatal and postnatal environment interact with genetic events to shape the development of the brain. The course explores the consequences of variation in neural development for behavior through studies of environmental perturbations in people and experimental animals. This course explores topics such as the involvement of hormones in sexual behavior, in the regulation of feeding, in mechanisms of stress, and in cognition. Laboratories involve research projects in the field and focus on the development of a variety of research skills. Proposals for independent study must be approved by the faculty advisor and the department before the beginning of the semester in which the study is undertaken.
Students are limited to one independent study per semester.
The course emphasizes the concepts and methods used in the study of the physiological mechanisms underlying behavior. Laboratory work includes examination of neuroanatomy and development of surgical and histological skills. This course is the same as Neuroscience 363. Psychology 261 or 262. Written permission of the instructor is required.