Undergraduate & Graduate Neuroscience Courses

Neuroscience Today (Neuroscience, Cell Biology & Physiology 333)
Instructor: M.D. Goldfinger, Ph.D.

This course teaches current concepts of brain function from an eclectic interdisciplinary perspective. Emphasis is on problem-solving through experimental and theoretical analyses. Additional insight will be provided by examples from clinical neuroscience (viz., neurology; neurosurgery; psychiatry). A further goal is to demonstrate how physics, biology, mathematics, psychology, chemistry and electrical engineering contribute to defining and elucidating the subject. The presentations will also show how basic science and clinical research shape current understanding. Another course goal is to show the student what we do NOT know about brain function.

Learning aids: Text: Introductory Neurophysiology (Goldfinger); in-class handouts; student research projects (term paper on a neuroscience topic; report on the work of a WSU neuroscientist). Exams: 3 sectional, 1 cumulative final; all: essay type. Sample syllabus.

Introductory Neurophysiology (Physiology & Biophysics 442/642; Biomedical Sciences 865)
Instructor: M.D. Goldfinger, Ph.D.

Introductory Neurophysiology is an upper-level STEM course for advanced undergraduate and early-stage graduate students, given each fall quarter. This four-credit-hour course meets four times per week and addresses the biophysical basis of information generation and processing by neuronal tissues. Beginning at the single-cell/thermodynamic level, the physical basis for baseline and excitation activity in neurons and its intra- and inter-cellular divergence is developed. Students examine classical and contemporary theoretical concepts and experimental findings; a textbook (Introductory Neurophysiology, Goldfinger) and its accompanying lab book provide parallel supportive readings and additional instruction. Motor system studies are used to illustrate bottom-up organization by neuronal circuitry generating motor behavior. Using simulation PC-based software (written by the instructor), students perform a series of seven cell-level electrophysiological experiments, addressing aspects of excitation in open-loop (microelectrode recording) and closed-loop (voltage-clamp) modes. Student learning is further facilitated by lab reports, daily written assignments, written sectional and cumulative final exams, and topical research papers.