From neuron to behavior
Ref. 96001
- Duration: 9 weeks
- Effort: 23 hours
- Pace: ~2h30/week
- Languages: English and french
What you will learn
At the end of this course, you will be able to:
The first goal of the course is to gain a detailed understanding of the structure and function of the fundamental building blocks of the mammalian brain.
The second goal is to understand how a given neural stem cell could give raise to fully organized brain circuits.
The third goal is to bring you to the fascinating world into which groups of neurons work together as interconnected neural cells.
The fourth goal is to approach neuronal disorders as consequences of brain circuit dysfunctions. We are going to consider what happens when the brain goes wrong with dramatic consequences for the individual and society as a whole.
The fifth goal places the brain inside a body interacting both with the external world and the internal state.
Description
Brain function determines our behavior and dictates who we are. Our brain function governs our every thoughts and every action. The brain processes information through the concerted activity of many neurons, which communicate with each other through contacts we call synapses organized in highly dynamic networks. In this course, we are taking a bottom up approach to studying the brain, starting from molecules to end with behaviors and mental disorders.
Understanding how the brain works is one of the greatest remaining mysteries that challenge mankind. This challenge is so huge that some people even think that it will never be possible to really understand how the brain functions. But modern neuroscience is making remarkable progress, so intense that we can feel to be part of a scientific revolution to a similar extent than the Copernican Revolution or Darwinian Revolution.
Brain and behavior are inextricably linked in neuroscience. The function of the brain is to govern behavior, and the aim of this course is to causally link brain development to brain functions and their related behaviors. The brain processes information through the concerted activity of many neurons, which communicate with each other through synapses organized in highly dynamic networks.
The course is devoted to describe how the brain develops and then functions to perceive the external world and learn from our experiences. Thus, this course aims for a causal and mechanistic explanation of brain functions that depend on two key players: the external world of course but also our internal states, of which the microbiota is an important component.
Format
Each week of the course consists of four video-lectures, each lasting from 10 to 15 minutes.
Prerequisites
All are welcome to sign up now through the end of the course, either you are an undergraduate student, a PhD/MD student, a teacher, a researcher, or just curious to understand how the brain works.
Assessment and certification
To obtain a certificate for having completed the course, five weekly tests and a final assignment must be completed to show that the participant has learned the course content. For this, Quiz questions associated with each video will help you learn the most important concepts.
Course plan
Week 1: How the building blocks are assembled in the developing brain
- Brain under construction: Molecular managers and cellular boulders
- General principles of the development and evolution of the central nervous system in Chordates
- Olfactory circuit development
- Functional architecture of nicotinic receptors and their homologs
Week 2: How stem cells can give rise to brain circuits
- Early steps in the making of the fly brain
- Compared embryonic and adult neurogenesis modes in zebrafish
- Local translation of neuronal mRNAs: From molecules to circuits and behavior
- Shaping the brain
Week 3: Brain circuits functions and how they are related to behavior Sensory system / Le système sensoriel
- Hearing: how the cochlea does a hard job with soft parts
- How biology Percieves Chemistry: The chemical senses
- The cerebellum: what are the majority of brain cell good for?
- Neuroglial interactions in brain physiology
- Activity-dependent mechanisms of sensory map refinement
Week 4: Understanding mental disorders through brain circuits dysfunctions
- The developing cortex and associated malformations
- A genetic dissection of nicotine addiction
- Neurons of addiction
- Genes, synapses and autisms
- Is delivery a critical period in the pathogenesis of autism?
Week 5: Interaction between microbiota and the brain
- Input of neuroscience on the understanding of rabies
- The symbiotic microbiota
- How does the gut microbiota influence the brain?
Course team
Pierre-Marie Lledo
Categories
Chairman of the Department of Neuroscience at the Pasteur Institute
Head of the Laboratory "Perception and Memory" at the Pasteur Institute
Director of the Laboratory "Genes, Synapses and Cognition" at the French Center for Scientific Research (CNRS)
Director of the Teaching Graduate Program "Development and plasticity of the nervous system" at the Pasteur Institute
Organizations
Suggested readings
- Neurosciences - From Molecule to Behavior: a university textbook From G. Giovanni, P-M Lledo Springer (2013)
- Neuroscience: Exploring the Brain (2015) From M.F. Bear, B.W. Connors and M.A. Paradiso Wolters Kluwer (Ed)
- Cognitive Neuroscience: The Biology of the Mind (2014) From M.S. Gazzaniga, and G.R. Mangun M.I.T (Ed)
- Principles of Neural Science, Fifth Edition (2013) From E. R. Kandel, J.H. Schwartz, T. M. Jessell, S. A. Siegelbaum, and A. J. Hudspeth. McGraw Hill Professional (Ed)
- Principles of Cognitive Neuroscience (2013) From D. Purves, E. Brannon, R. Cabeza, S.A. Huettel, K. Labar, M.L. Platt and M. Woldorff. Macmillan Education (Ed)
- The Custom-Made Brain (2014) From J-D Vincent and P-M Lledo. Columbia University Press (Ed)
License
License for the course content
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives
You are free to:
- Share — copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format
Under the following terms:
- Attribution — You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use.
- NonCommercial — You may not use the material for commercial purposes.
- NoDerivatives — If you remix, transform, or build upon the material, you may not distribute the modified material.
License for the content created by course participants
All rights reserved
"All rights reserved" is a copyright formality indicating that the copyright holder reserves, or holds for its own use, all the rights provided by copyright law.