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Neuroscience 10
The Brain Made Simple: Neuroscience in the 21
st
Century
Fall, 2012

GENERAL INFORMATION

Time and Place:
Monday and Wednesday 3:00-4:20 p.m., WGYOUNG CS76
Thursday 3:30-4:20 p.m., FRANZ 1260

Course Instructors:
Michael S. Levine, Ph.D. (X57595, Room 58-258e Semel Institute for Neuroscience)
mlevine@mednet.ucla.edu
J oseph 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 nonmajors 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 addition 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
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: Brain, Mind and Behavior (3
rd
Edition) by Floyd Bloom, Charles A. Nelson and Arlyne
Lazerson. Worth Publishers, New York, New York, 2001. The text can be obtained from the
ASUCLA Bookstore. Copies also are on reserve in Powell Library.
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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/12F-NEUROSC10-1. The web page contains course
material and a bulletin board. You are encouraged to use the bulletin 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 bulletin 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 27: Introduction to neuroscience. Read Brain, Mind and Behavior pp. 1-17.
Monday, October 1: Organization of the brain: An overview. Read Brain, Mind and Behavior pp.
17-26.
Wednesday, October 3: Neurogenes: The highest level of gene activity occurs in the brain. PDF
for reading will be posted on the course web site.
Thursday, October 4: Neurogenetics: Gene mutations cause multiple brain diseases that are
inherited in families. PDF for reading will be posted on the course web site.
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Monday, October 8: Organization of the brain: An overview (continued). Cells in the brain and
what they do. Read Brain, Mind and Behavior pp. 27-34.
Wednesday, October 10: Cells in the brain and what they do (continued). Read Brain, Mind and
Behavior pp. 34-36.
Thursday, October 11: How neurons communicate: Action potentials and synapses. Read Brain,
Mind and Behavior pp. 36-41.
Monday, October 15: No Class. Society for Neurosciences Meeting.
Wednesday, October 17: How neurons communicate: Neurotransmitters and neurotransmitter
systems. Read Brain, Mind and Behavior pp. 41-50
Thursday, October 18: How neurons communicate: Neurotransmitters and neurotransmitter
systems (continued).
Monday, October 22: How neurons communicate: Neurotransmitters and neurotransmitter
systems (continued). Review for Exam 1.
Wednesday, October 24: Exam 1

Module 2: Sensory and Motor Systems
Thursday, October 25: Sensation, a general model. Read Brain, Mind and Behavior pp. 97-104.
Vision. Read Brain, Mind and Behavior pp. 104-126.
Monday, October 29: Vision, continued. Audition. Brain, Mind and Behavior pp. 126-136.
Wednesday, October 31: Audition, continued.
Thursday, November 1: Taste and Smell. Read Brain, Mind and Behavior pp. 136-141.
Monday, November 5: Somatosensory system (touch, kinesthesis, pain and temperature). Read
Brain, Mind and Behavior pp. 255-262.
Wednesday, November 7: Motor Systems. Introduction to motor systems. Muscles. Read Brain,
Mind and Behavior pp. 143-152.
Thursday, November 8: Spinal cord and brain stem. Read Brain, Mind and Behavior pp. 152-
155. Motor cortex. Read Brain, Mind and Behavior pp. 155-158.
Monday, November 12: Holiday. No Class.
Wednesday, November 14: Basal ganglia and cerebellum. Read Brain, Mind and Behavior pp.
158-166.
Thursday, November 15: Diseases of the motor system. Read Brain, Mind and Behavior pp. 375-
379. Review for Exam 2
Monday, November 19: Exam 2.

Module 3: Higher Brain Functions
Wednesday, November 21: Emotions: The highs and lows of the brain. Read Brain, Mind and
Behavior pp. 239-252; 264-274
Thursday, November 22: Holiday. No Class.
Monday, November 26: The human memory system. Read Brain, Mind and Behavior pp.275-
298.
Wednesday, November 28: The malfunctioning mind. Read Brain, Mind and Behavior pp. 361-
375.
Thursday, November 29: Thinking and consciousness. Read Brain, Mind and Behavior pp. 315-
352.
Monday, December 3: Cellular mechanisms of simple learning and memory. Read Brain, Mind
and Behavior pp.298-314.
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Wednesday, December 5: Neuropsychiatric disorders: Read Brain, Mind and Behavior pp. 381-
412.
Thursday, December 6: Neuropsychiatric disorders continued. Review for Exam 3: Time and
place to be arranged.
Friday, December 14, 2012: Exam 3 (Exam Code 08), 3:00 p.m.-6:00 p.m. Room to be
arranged.