BIO254:Toolbox

Welcome to the BIO154/254 Experimental Toolbox!

Here, you'll find explanations of all the model systems and techniques mentioned in the lectures and papers. Hopefully, this will be useful for students who don't have as much experience with experimental neuroscience (especially undergraduates).

Lectures

Wiring of the Brain

• Lecture 1: Overview of Nervous System Organization (Luo 9/25)
• Lecture 2: Axon Guidance (Luo 9/27)
• Lecture 3: Wiring Specificity (Luo 10/2)
• Lecture 4: Synaptic Development (Shen 10/4)

Neuronal Communication

• Lecture 5: Action Potentials and Synaptic Transmission (Shen 10/9)
• Lecture 6: Synaptic Plasticity (Shen 10/11)
• Lecture 7: Neuronal Signal Transduction (Clandinin/Dolmetsch 10/18)

Sensory Systems: From Stimuli to Brain Representations

• Lecture 8: Vision: From Photon To Nerve Signal (Clandinin 10/23)
• Lecture 9: Vision: Adaptation and Color Vision (Clandinin 10/25)
• Lecture 10: Vision: Central Representations (Luo 10/30)
• Lecture 11: Olfaction and Taste: Periphery (Shen 11/1)
• Lecture 12: Olfaction and Taste: Central Representations (Luo 11/6)
• Lecture 13: Evolution of Sensory Systems (Clandinin 11/8)

Molecular Basis of Behavior and Neurological Diseases

• Lecture 14: Molecular Basis of Circadian Rhythm (Luo 11/13)
• Lecture 15: Molecular Basis of Sexual Behavior (Luo 11/15)
• Lecture 16: Learning and Memory: Genes, Circuits, and Behavior (Shen 11/27)
• Lecture 17: Degenerative Neurological Diseases (Shen 11/29)

Papers

• Paper 1: Wnt-Ryk signalling mediates medial-lateral retinotectal topographic mapping (Schmitt 2006)
• Paper 2: Systematic analysis of genes required for synapse structure and function (Sieburth 2005)
• Paper 3: Stochastic spineless expression creates the retinal mosaic for colour vision (Wernet 2006)
• Paper 4: Male-specific fruitless specifies the neural substrates of Drosophila courtship behaviour (Manoli 2005)