课程概况
脑科学为21世纪最重要的研究领域，而神经科学即是脑科学的基础。本课程属于「神经科学微学程」四个核心课程（细胞神经科学、系统神经科学、认知神经科学及计算神经科学）的其中之一。在本课程中，我们将介绍神经网络的结构与功能，这是介于细胞神经科学与认知神经科学的重要基础课程。本课程内容特别专注于探讨感觉神经系统与运动神经系统。藉由重要观念的解说与实验数据的分析，本课程期望所有修习的学生都能瞭解神经系统运作方式的基本法则。
课程大纲
Week 1. Organization of the nervous systems
1. Anatomical organization of CNS and PNS
2. Functional organization of the brain
3. Regional specialization of the cerebral cortex
4. Neural organization of perception
5. Neural organization of cognition
6. Neural organization of action
7. Quantification of perception and action
8. Functional imaging of the brain
Week 2. Sensation and perception: touch and pain
1. Sensory receptors and sensory coding
2. Sensory processing beyond receptors
3. The somatosensory system
4. Mechanoreceptors and touch
5. Tactile information processing
6. Thermal receptors and temperature
7. Nociceptors and pain
8. Nociceptive information processing
Week 3. Sensation and perception: vision I
1. Eye, brain, and vision
2. Phototransduction and adaptation
3. Neural organization of the retina
4. Retinal ganglion cells
5. Neural organization of the primary visual cortex
6. Intermediate-level visual processing
7. Color vision
8. Depth and motion perception
Week 4. Sensation and perception: vision II
1. Contextual effect of visual perception
2. Object perception
3. Perceptual constancy
4. Visual memory
5. Internal representations of space
6. Visuomotor control
7. Scene stabilization during saccades
8. Attention and visual processing
Week 5. Sensation and perception: audition, olfaction, and gustation
1. Mechanoelectrical transduction of hair cells
2. Cochlear structure and frequency coding
3. Sound localization and spatial mapping
4. Sound perception and vocal learning
5. Olfactory receptors and coding
6. Neural organization of odor perception
7. Taste receptors and taste buds
8. Gustatory information processing
Week 6. Movement and action: peripheral mechanisms
1. Muscle structure and force
2. Motor unit
3. Muscle action
4. Local spinal circuits of reflexes
5. Regulation of spinal reflexes
6. Central pattern generator and locomotion
7. Neural control of locomotion
Week 7. Movement and action: central control
1. Eye movements and extraocular muscles
2. The control of gaze
3. The vestibular apparatus and vestibulo-ocular reflex
4. The vestibular system
5. Postural equilibrium and orientation
6. Sensory integration and control of posture
7. Neural organization of cerebellum
8. Functions of cerebellum
9. The basal ganglia
Week 8. Movement and action: coordination and planning
1. Motor commands and sensorimotor transformation
2. The organization and planning of movement
3. Cortical areas for voluntary motor control
4. Neural coding of motor commands
5. Neuroprosthesis and adaptive motor learning
6. Voluntary movement: reaching for an object
7. Voluntary movement: grasping an object
8. Planning action and mirror neurons
预备知识
具备生物学基本概念即可
参考资料
1. Dale Purves, George J. Augustine, David Fitzpatrick and William C. Hall, Neuroscience,
5th Ed., 2011
2. Larry Squire, Darwin Berg, Floyd E. Bloom and Sascha du Lac, Fundamental Neuroscience,
4th Ed., 2012
3. John G. Nicholls, A. Robert Martin, Paul A. Fuchs and David A. Brown, From Neuron to Brain,
5th Ed., 2011
