BIONB 424/PSYCH 424 - NEUROETHOLOGY (3 credits) Fall 2007
M, W, F at 10:10-11:00 AM; A106 Corson Mudd Hall (The Morison Room)
Course Instructor: Carl D. Hopkins
A lecture course devoted to the study of neural mechanisms of animal behavior. This course is intended for upper- level undergraduate students who already have some background in biology, animal behavior or psychology and neurobiology. Prerequisites: BioG101-104 or equivalent (8 credits of Introductory Biology for Majors) or Instructor Approval. Highly recommended course background: BioNB 221 (Introduction to Animal Behavior) or BioNB222 (Introduction to Neurobiology); or Introductory BioPsychology, Psych223. S-U or Letter grades optional (C- passing grade for S/U). Offered Fall 2007.
AN INTRODUCTION TO NEUROETHOLOGY, THE NEURAL BASIS OF ANIMAL BEHAVIOR
Neuroetholgy is the comparative and evolutionary approach to the study of behavior and its neural basis. Neuroethogists ask "How do brains of animals compare and how did they come about through the process of evolution?", "How are neural circuits adapted to species-typical behavior"?, and "How can we learn about brain and behavior from the comparative study of a large diversity of animals?" Neuroethogists believe that we can learn a great deal of general principles about nervous systems by studying systems that are specialized. Neuroethogists learn from animals that experience a different sensory world from our own. These and other questions derive this introductory survey of neuroethology, including exotic senses, amazing motor programs, and surprising integration. |
