Neuroscience Fundamentals - Course Plan Overview

So, you want to learn about neuroscience. Great!

What is it exactly?

Neuroscience is defined as the scientific study of the nervous system.

This seems simple enough, but taking the first step to actually approach the topic can be a little more complicated.

The human nervous system is a complicated organ system comprised of many intricate, interconnected, and complicated structures. Moreover, basic structural placement alone does not tell the whole story - exact differentiation and layering of cells, circuit connections between regions, chemical concentrations, metabolic activity, and more all matter. Moreover, in its routine functioning, the brain does math. MATH!!!

And the approaches used to study the nervous system can appear as diverse and confusing as the system itself.

So…if a person wants to actually understand this motley crew of drunk racoons in a trench coat masquerading as a unified scientific field, where should they start?

Defining some basic concepts can go a long way. The current status of neuroscientific research CAN be understood. But, like Rome, we won’t do this all in a day. Let’s take some baby steps.

Here’s our road map:

First things first, you will need to understand the most basic building block of the nervous system - the cell. We will review the basic structure of a human cell, and then the types that you will see in the nervous system: neurons, cells that support neurons structurally and metabolically, and cells that protect neurons against threats like disease.

Then, we will review one of the most important functions of the neuron - the action potential. This bizarre process underlies the miracle of life that, with questionable wisdom by God, allowed an organ the consistency of canned spam (gross) to become electrified and develop the ability to wonder about questions like “What is a brain?” or “Why does society care SO much that a person wear matching socks to work?”. In other words, this is the exact mechanism by which electrically charged ions and neurotransmitter molecules are able to work together to get messages sent from one cell to another in order to facilitate things like breathing, moving, or thinking.

After this, we’ll pan out - WAY out, from a single-cell focus to look at the structure of the nervous system as a whole. This is where we’ll go over the differences between the peripheral and central nervous system, and then break down the regional structures of the spinal cord, brain, etc and discuss some of their broader more generalized functions.

Here’s where the fun really starts - once we’ve covered this stuff, you’ll have begun budding into something of a scientist yourself. Then we can really start digging in, and go over some important brain structural circuitry. We’ll go over things like the basal ganglia circuits and what they have to do with movement disorders like Parkinson’s and Huntington’s, and other things like that.

Then we’ll be ready to chat about advanced research approaches and concepts, like neuroimaging, organoid studies, viral vectors, and more. That will lead to some really cool discussions about brain development, brain networks, proposed models of the biology of learning, and what any of that has do with neuroplasticity or human diseases.

I’ll toss in other modules for you as well - a good discussion of models of memory from a cognitive psychology discipline never hurt anyone, for example (unless you count me during finals week junior year, in which case it did hurt just a little). And I’m very much hoping for a collaborative process - I look forward to letting questions guide some of the discussions and resource selections as I build out the learning modules. Please never hesitate to contact me with questions either through this website, email, or social media. I will do my best to answer any questions that are submitted along the way.

Overall, my aim is to create an approachable yet systematic approach to learning that builds naturally upon itself to build a solid neuroscience foundation and address common misconceptions. By following these modules, an independent learner should be able to progress from a neuroscience novice to an educated individual capable of informed consumption and discussion of advanced research concepts.

I hope you will follow along, and I look forward to learning with you!