Neuroanatomy

Basic organization of CNS and PNS

Efferent v Afferent
Protection mechanisms (physical v chemical)
Anatomical directions and planes
Major divisions and subdivisions
White v grey matter
Cranial nerves (number, name, and sensory/motor/both)

The neuron
Basic anatomy of a neuron
Similarities and differences from other cells in body
How neuron maintains resting membrane potential
How ions want to move with concentration gradient and electrostatic pressure
Ligands and major classes of neurotransmitters
metabotropic v ligand gated ion channels v voltage gated ion channels
EPSPS and IPSPS
PSP summation
Action potential voltage changes and why
Conversion of electrical signal to chemical signal
Neurotransmitter removal
That other cells (neuroglia) exist in brain and are important

Methods
Preclinical v clinical difference
Different overseeing committees
Methods for investigating neuronal morphology, phenotype, connectivity and activity (basic
understanding of how to apply each method and what the goal is)

Methods of manipulating neurons of neuronal circuits (basic understanding of how to apply

each method and what the goal is)

The Beginning
Nature v Nurture
BASICS of genetics- how genes store biological code and how that is 1. Meaningful for
neuroscience 2. Inherited and 3. Changes over generations
Mendelian genetics
how we study nature v nurture
embryogenesis (level presented on slides)
neural tube v neural crest
neurogenesis, synaptogenesis, synaptic pruning
sensitive periods and examples of how their influence
basics of epigenetics
Senses
How basic senses convert physical stimuli to neural activity that reaches the brain
That these signals get to the cortex (but not all the stops in the brain along the way, like some of
the slides show)
What is being detected for the 7 most “basic” senses and how (on most simple level for each
discussed)
Extero- v interoception
Concept of transduction and how sensory systems do so
Differences in types of sensory receptors
How pain is sensed
How somatosensation gets into the brain
Differences between sensation and perception
Dorsal v ventral stream of perception
Examples of how perception is organized by the brain
Dermatomes
Top-down v bottom-up regulation of perception
Examples of how just because our sense are monitoring what is happening around us, we don’t
always perceive it.
We did not discuss all of the perception slides- and therefore you are not responsible

Motor
How motor signals are sent and differences between pathways
Mirror neurons
Basal ganglia and cerebellum circuitry
Muscle control
reflexes
Dopamine’s role in motor signaling
Basics of motor disorders discussed
Treatments of motor disorders discussed
Neural plasticity in context of motor function