The course gives the student extended knowledge about how the nervous system is organized, and how it functions in order to change physiological state of neuronal circuits which underlies the generation of behavior. Thus, the nervous system is explored at molecular, cellular, systems and behavioral levels. An overview of methods used to analyze neural function is given i.e. analytical tools of genetics, molecular biology, cell biology, electrophysiology and behavioral biology. The course covers the following aspects: basic neuroanatomy, nerve cell specialization and function at the molecular and cellular level, neural circuit formation, activity-dependent change of synapses, sensory systems incl. coding and processing of sensory information and motor control.
