Neuroscience 10

The Brain Made Simple: Neuroscience in the 21st Century

Fall, 2015
GENERAL INFORMATION
Time and Place:
Monday and Wednesday: 3:30-4:45 pm Moore 100
Thursday: 4:00-4:50 pm Haines 118
Course Instructors:
Michael S. Levine, Ph.D. (X57595, Room 58-258e Semel Institute for Neuroscience)
mlevine@mednet.ucla.edu
Joseph B. Watson, Ph.D. (X57587, Room 58-258b Semel Institute for Neuroscience)
jwatson@mednet.ucla.edu
Office Hours: Time and place to be arranged.
Registrar's Course Description: Lecture, four hours. General overview and introduction to the
most exciting and fundamental topics encompassing the field of neuroscience. Preparation: high
school background in either biology or chemistry. Not open for credit to students with credit for
Neuroscience M101A. Designed for non-majors, but can also be taken by majors as their first
exposure to neuroscience. Letter grading or P/NP.
Getting the Most Out of Lectures: The lectures complement and expand on the reading
material and the readings are required. Students must read the textbook. Bear in mind that the
material you are about to study does not readily lend itself to last minute cramming. Also, if you
keep up with the readings you will get a great deal more from the lectures. We will post material
presented in class on the course webpage. Check the webpage regularly and print a copy to bring
to class. This way you can follow the lecture and jot down additional notes. Our best advice is to
listen attentively rather than trying to copy the materials presented in lecture.
During lectures ALL cell phones must be OFF. It is very distracting to instructors and to your
fellow students to either hear phones ringing or see students looking at their phones or texting
messages. Leaving the class to answer phone messages or to text is not appropriate and is
distracting.
Students may use laptops in class only for taking notes. If you are found doing other things in
class on the laptop you will be asked to stop. That will be embarrassing to you and will be
brought to the instructors attention. Such inappropriate behavior is distracting to instructors and
students around you. We want you to do well in this course and any distractions to your
instructors, other students and YOU are not appropriate.
Text: Assigned readings are from the text: Brain, Mind and Behavior (3rd Edition) by
Floyd Bloom, Charles A. Nelson and Arlyne Lazerson. Worth Publishers, New York, New
York, 2001. The text is out of print and the assigned readings are available from UCLA

Course Reader Solutions. Here is more information to obtain the assigned readings in the
text.
NEUR 10 FALL 2015-UCLA-NEUR 10-Section 1
Instructor:WATSON, J.B., LEVINE, M.S.
Required Materials
E-CRS BRAIN, MIND, AND BEHAVIOR (DIGITAL-FOR IMMEDIATE ACCESS
VISIT UCLA.REDSHELF.COM TO PURCHASE)
Author: LEVINE
ISBN: 9789800004982
Publisher: Virdocs Publishing, Llc
DIGITAL-FOR IMMEDIATE ACCESS VISIT UCLA.REDSHELF.COM TO
PURCHASE
Used or new copies of the text might also be available at the UCLA Bookstore or at
Amazon. Copies also are on reserve in Powell Library.
Grading: Grades will be based on three examinations, one after each module and each exam is
about 1 hour long. Each exam will cover presented material of the immediately previous module.
The material covered on the exams will not be cumulative. Note that Exams 1 and 2 will occur
after the end of Modules 1 and 2, and Exam 3 is scheduled during Finals Week. Exams will
consist of short answer questions derived from both assigned readings and lectures, so that
regular attendance at lectures is highly encouraged. Your final grade will be based on a total of
300 points. All exams are closed book, and talking is not permitted. Any violation of this will
result in the student being sent to the Dean of Students Office. Class grades are loosely based on
a 70% =C, 80%=B, 90%=A sliding scale.
Make-Up and Early Exams: There will be no make-up or early exams. If you are unable to take
an exam because of illness or emergency contact Professors Levine or Watson before the exam.
Re-grading Policy: If you disagree with an answer on an exam or if you disagree with the points
you received on an exam, or if you disagree with your final grade, you must submit a
TYPEWRITTEN request to Professors Levine and Watson.
Cheating: Don't do it. The penalties can be very harsh, the gain small. Don't believe it when you
hear that "everyone does it." (You generally don't hear of the punishments because they are kept
confidential.) If you are caught cheating in an exam, either helping someone else or being
helped, you will receive no points on that exam. (Such a score may cause you to fail the course.)
You will be reported to the Dean of Students, who will be encouraged to take strong action. Past
examples of penalties include loss of an entire quarter of credit and suspension for several
quarters. If you plan to apply to graduate or professional school, such a blemish on your record
may be a major obstacle to admission.
Web Page and Bulletin Board: The web page for the course can be found at
http://www.ccle.ucla.edu/course/view/15F-NEUROSC10-1. The web page contains course
material and a Discussion Board. You are encouraged to use the Discussion Board to ask
questions and to read the questions and answers posted by fellow students and the instructors. All
questions pertaining to course material should be placed on the Discussion Board and not sent to

individual instructors so that all students can have the benefit in seeing the answers. If you feel
unfamiliar with computer resources, please contact Professors Levine or Watson and tutorial
sessions will be arranged.
TOPICS, ASSIGNED READINGS FOR LECTURES AND EXAMS
Module 1: Basic Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience
Thursday, September 24: Introduction to neuroscience. Read Brain, Mind and Behavior pp. 1-17.
Monday, September 28: Organization of the brain: An overview. Read Brain, Mind and Behavior
pp. 17-26.
Wednesday, September 30: Organization of the brain: An overview (continued). Cells in the
brain and what they do. Read Brain, Mind and Behavior pp. 27-34.
Thursday, October 1: Cells in the brain and what they do (continued). Read Brain, Mind and
Behavior pp. 34-36.
Monday, October 5: How neurons communicate: Action potentials and synapses. Read Brain,
Mind and Behavior pp. 36-41.
Wednesday, October 7: Neurogenes: The highest level of gene activity occurs in the brain. PDF
for reading will be posted on the course web site.
Thursday, October 8: Neurogenetics: Gene mutations cause multiple brain diseases that are
inherited in families. PDF for reading will be posted on the course web site.
Monday, October 12: How neurons communicate: Neurotransmitters and neurotransmitter
systems. Read Brain, Mind and Behavior pp. 41-50
Wednesday, October 14: How neurons communicate: Neurotransmitters and neurotransmitter
systems (continued).
Thursday, October 15: How neurons communicate: Neurotransmitters and neurotransmitter
systems (continued).
Monday, October 19: Class Canceled Society for Neurosciences Meeting
Wednesday, October 21: Exam 1. Moore 100
Module 2: Motor and Sensory Systems
Thursday, October 22: Sensation, a general model. Read Brain, Mind and Behavior pp. 97-104.
Vision. Read Brain, Mind and Behavior pp. 104-126.
Monday, October 26: Vision, continued. Audition. Brain, Mind and Behavior pp. 126-136.Spinal
cord and brain stem. Read Brain, Mind and Behavior pp. 152-155.
Wednesday, October 28: Audition, continued.
Thursday, October 29: Taste and Smell. Read Brain, Mind and Behavior pp. 136-141.
Monday, November 2: Somatosensory system (touch, kinesthesis, pain and temperature). Read
Brain, Mind and Behavior pp. 255-262.
Wednesday, November 4: Motor Systems. Introduction to motor systems. Muscles. Read Brain,
Mind and Behavior pp. 143-152.
Thursday, November 5: Spinal cord and brain stem. Read Brain, Mind and Behavior pp. 152155. Motor cortex. Read Brain, Mind and Behavior pp. 155-158.
Monday, November 9: Basal ganglia and cerebellum. Read Brain, Mind and Behavior pp. 158166.
Wednesday, November 11: Holiday Veterans Day No Class

Thursday, November 12: Diseases of the motor system. Read Brain, Mind and Behavior pp. 375379.
Monday, November 16: Exam 2. Moore 100
Module 3: Higher Brain Functions
Wednesday, November 18: Emotions: The highs and lows of the brain. Read Brain, Mind and
Behavior pp. 239-252; 264-274
Thursday, November 19: The human memory system. Read Brain, Mind and Behavior pp.275298.
Monday, November 23: Cellular mechanisms of simple learning and memory. Read Brain, Mind
and Behavior pp.298-314.
Wednesday, November 25: Thinking and consciousness. Read Brain, Mind and Behavior pp.
315-352.
Thursday, November 26: Holiday Thanksgiving
Monday, November 30: The malfunctioning mind. Read Brain, Mind and Behavior pp. 361375.
Wednesday, December 2: Neuropsychiatric disorders: Read Brain, Mind and Behavior pp. 381412.
Thursday, December 3: Neuropsychiatric disorders continued. Review for Exam 3: Time and
place to be arranged.
Final Thursday, December 10 from 8:00-11:00 am. Room to be arranged.