BSCI431

Prerequisite: Minimum grade of C- in NEUR200, BSCI353 or NEUR306. Explore how brains change through evolution along the animal tree of life. By comparing the nervous system structure and development across the animal kingdom, this course aims to reveal common designs and mechanisms that generate behavior, and to inform our understanding of how biology builds minds. Topics include the origins of neurons, the universal molecular patterning of brain development across invertebrates and vertebrates, the evolution of neurotransmission, comparative mechanisms of learning and memory, and what in our brain makes us human. (Sponsoring Dept: BIOL). Acceptable toward Biological Sciences specialization areas: ECEV, GENB (Cell Biology category), and PHNB.