Structure & Development of the Mammalian Brain

Lectures plus guided readings and discussion with project reports, covering major CNS structures, with emphasis on systems being used as models for experimental studies of development and plasticity. Topics include: basic patterns of connections in CNS; review of lab techniques (anatomy, tissue culture); embryogenesis; PNS anatomy and development; process outgrowth and synaptogenesis; growth factors and cell survival; spinal and hindbrain anatomy; development of regional specificity with introduction to comparative anatomy and CNS evolution; trigeminal system; retinotectal system development, plasticity, regeneration; neocortex anatomy and development; olfactory system; corpus striatum; brain transplants; limbic system and hippocampal anatomy and plasticity