Neuroscience Graduate Student Status or Instructor Consent is Requred.

Systems Neuroscience (Nsc 5561) is a graduate level course forming part of the core curriculum for incoming Neuroscience graduate students.  Over the years there have been a number of non-neuroscience graduate students as well as neuroscience undergraduates who have done very well in the course.  Please refer to the Schedule of Lectures for an overview of the curriculum.

Permission will usually be granted provided performance acceptable to instructor is demonstrated in one of the following:

NSC 5461 (Cellular and Molecular neuroscience)
NSCi 3101 (Introduction to Neuroscience: From Molecules to Madness)
Other neuroscience courses acceptable to course director

The reason for the prerequisite is that we will spend very little time discussing basic concepts of cellular and molecular neuroscience.  These concepts are important to the understanding of systems neuroscience, so we expect students to be familiar with the ionic bases of resting and action potentials as well as neurotransmitters and receptors and their actions.  Lecturers in the course will assume that students are already comfortable with this material, so that they can spend more time presenting material related directly to the system being covered.

Our goal is for everyone to get an A or B in the course, and there is no Pass/Fail option. Unfortunately, each year there usually at least one C given in the course.

If you are not prepared for this course, you could be at great risk.

Contact Course Director for registration information.  If you meet prerequisite requirements for the course you will be issued a “magic number” for registration.  Numbers will be available near the beginning May 2007.

Christopher Honda (course director)

cnhonda@umn.edu
612 624-3915
4-122 NHH (formerly BSBE)

Alternatives to NSC 5561:  The following are excellent courses that provide a sound foundation in neuroscience:

NSC 5110/6110 (Dental Neuroscience) Spring Semester
NSC 3101 (Introduction to Neuroscience I:  Molecules to Madness) Fall
NSC 3102W (Introduction to Neuroscience II: Biological Basis of Behavior) Spring