医学神经科学

你将学到什么

课程概况

医学神经科学探究人类中枢神经系统的组织和生理机能。本课程是专为健康专业项目研究生一年级的学生设置的。本课程基于细胞的先前研究和分子生物学、普通生理学和人体解剖学等知识。让学生了解神经功能的基本原理，从细胞和分子机制的神经信号到机体的可塑性、感觉功能和运动系统。本课程侧重人脑和脊髓的神经和血管解剖。为中枢神经系统内的局部病变提供一个解剖框架。同时课程重点帮助你去理解精神病和行为障碍的相关的神经生物学基础。

本课程的主要目标是让学生掌握可解释伴随着神经损伤、疾病或功能紊乱产生的感觉障碍、行动障碍和认知障碍方面的健康专业知识。目前正从事脑科学高深研究的学生，通过本课程，将学到功能性人类神经解剖学的基本知识，以及如何把神经科学的发现应用到临床实践中。

Medical Neuroscience explores the functional organization and neurophysiology of the human central nervous system, while providing a neurobiological framework for understanding human behavior. In this course, you will discover the organization of the neural systems in the brain and spinal cord that mediate sensation, motivate bodily action, and integrate sensorimotor signals with memory, emotion and related faculties of cognition. The overall goal of this course is to provide the foundation for understanding the impairments of sensation, action and cognition that accompany injury, disease or dysfunction in the central nervous system. The course will build upon knowledge acquired through prior studies of cell and molecular biology, general physiology and human anatomy, as we focus primarily on the central nervous system.

This online course is designed to include all of the core concepts in neurophysiology and clinical neuroanatomy that would be presented in most first-year neuroscience courses in schools of medicine. However, there are some topics (e.g., biological psychiatry) and several learning experiences (e.g., hands-on brain dissection) that we provide in the corresponding course offered in the Duke University School of Medicine on campus that we are not attempting to reproduce in Medical Neuroscience online. Nevertheless, our aim is to faithfully present in scope and rigor a medical school caliber course experience.

This course comprises six units of content organized into 12 weeks, with an additional week for a comprehensive final exam:
– Unit 1 Neuroanatomy (weeks 1-2). This unit covers the surface anatomy of the human brain, its internal structure, and the overall organization of sensory and motor systems in the brainstem and spinal cord.
– Unit 2 Neural signaling (weeks 3-4). This unit addresses the fundamental mechanisms of neuronal excitability, signal generation and propagation, synaptic transmission, post synaptic mechanisms of signal integration, and neural plasticity.
– Unit 3 Sensory systems (weeks 5-7). Here, you will learn the overall organization and function of the sensory systems that contribute to our sense of self relative to the world around us: somatic sensory systems, proprioception, vision, audition, and balance senses.
– Unit 4 Motor systems (weeks 8-9). In this unit, we will examine the organization and function of the brain and spinal mechanisms that govern bodily movement.
– Unit 5 Brain Development (week 10). Next, we turn our attention to the neurobiological mechanisms for building the nervous system in embryonic development and in early postnatal life; we will also consider how the brain changes across the lifespan.
– Unit 6 Cognition (weeks 11-12). The course concludes with a survey of the association systems of the cerebral hemispheres, with an emphasis on cortical networks that integrate perception, memory and emotion in organizing behavior and planning for the future; we will also consider brain systems for maintaining homeostasis and regulating brain state.

课程大纲

周1
完成时间为 2 小时
Getting Started in Medical Neuroscience

Let's get started in Medical Neuroscience! Each module in Medical Neuroscience will begin with a brief description like this that provides you with an overview of the module. In this first module, you will get to know something about Prof. White and his career in neuroscience; you will understand the scope of Medical Neuroscience, its learning resources, your responsibilities for maximizing your benefit in this course, and you will learn Prof. White's tips on how best to study and learn.

At the end of this module, please take the ungraded preliminary quiz, "Are you ready for Medical Neuroscience", to self-assess your background knowledge. Your score on this quiz will not count toward your overall score in this course. However, you should be able to pass this quiz (score 70% or better) if you are ready for the academic challenge of this course. Students who are likely to achieve their goals in Medical Neuroscience should be able to successfully answer nearly all of the quiz questions on their first attempt and feel comfortable with assessment questions at this level of knowledge.

5 个视频 （总计 75 分钟）, 2 个阅读材料, 1 个测验
完成时间为 2 小时
Neuroanatomy: Introducing the Human Brain
Your introduction to Medical Neuroscience continues as you experience in this module a brief introduction to the human brain, its component
cells, and some basic anatomical conventions for finding your way around the human central nervous system.
4 个视频 （总计 79 分钟）, 1 个阅读材料, 1 个测验

周2
完成时间为 3 小时
Neuroanatomy: Surface Anatomy of the Human CNS
We now begin in earnest our lessons on neuroanatomy with the surface of the human brain, including a brief run through the cranial nerves and the blood supply to the CNS. In this module, you will learn the basic subdivisions of the vertebrate nervous system; however, your focus should be on the cerebral cortex. Along the way, you will be challenged to "build a digital brain" that should help you generate and improve your mental “model” of the cerebral hemispheres of the human brain. Another great way to refine your mental model is through sketching and crafting, so please do the learning objectives that are designed to help you make visible (and tangible) your understanding of the cerebral hemispheres.
12 个视频 （总计 129 分钟）, 2 个阅读材料, 2 个测验
完成时间为 4 小时
Neuroanatomy: Internal Anatomy of the Human CNS
12 个视频 （总计 160 分钟）, 2 个阅读材料, 2 个测验

周3
完成时间为 3 小时
Neural Signaling: Electrical Excitability and Signal Propagation
We now turn our attention from the tangible (human neuroanatomy) to the physiological as we explore the means by which neurons generate, propagate and communicate electrical signals. After exploring those structures in the human brain that are visible to the unaided eye, we must now sharpen our focus and zoom-in, as it were, to the unitary level of organization and function in the central nervous system: to the level of individual neurons and their component parts that are crucial for neural signaling.
9 个视频 （总计 142 分钟）, 1 个阅读材料, 1 个测验

周4
完成时间为 5 小时
Neural Signaling: Synaptic Transmission and Synaptic Plasticity
Let’s continue our studies of neural signaling by learning about what happens at synaptic junctions, where the terminal ending of one neuron
meets a complementary process of another excitable cell.
13 个视频 （总计 226 分钟）, 2 个阅读材料, 2 个测验

周5
完成时间为 5 小时
Sensory Systems: General Principles and Somatic Sensation
We have reached a significant juncture in Medical Neuroscience as we turn our attention to the organization and function of the sensory systems. We will begin our studies with the somatic sensory systems, which includes subsystems for mechanical sensation and pain/temperature sensation. But before we get there, it is worth considering first some organizing principles that will set the stage for studies of somatic sensation and all the other sensory systems of the body.
16 个视频 （总计 257 分钟）, 2 个阅读材料, 2 个测验

周6
完成时间为 3 小时
Sensory Systems: The Visual System
This module will provide lessons that are designed to help you understand the basic mechanisms by which light is transduced into electrical signals that are then used to construct visual perceptions in the brain. Your studies of the visual system will benefit you at this point in the course, but also in later studies when we use the visual system as a model for understanding general principles of developmental plasticity. Lastly, it is worth noting how much of the forebrain contains elements of the visual pathways. Thus, injuries and disease in widespread regions of the brain may have a clinically important impact on visual function. All the more reason to learn these lessons well as you progress in Medical Neuroscience.
12 个视频 （总计 161 分钟）, 2 个阅读材料, 2 个测验

周7
完成时间为 6 小时
Sensory Systems: Audition, Vestibular Sensation and the Chemical Senses
Our survey of the sensory systems continues as we now turn our attention to the auditory system, the vestibular system, and the chemical sensory systems. As you study this content, notice the similarities and the differences that pertain to the general mechanisms of sensory transduction and the broad organization of the central pathways in each of these sensory systems. In particular, note the similarity in transduction mechanisms for audition and vestibular sensation; and note the “logic” of sensory coding in the chemical sensory systems.
22 个视频 （总计 272 分钟）, 3 个阅读材料, 3 个测验

周8
完成时间为 5 小时
Movement and Motor Control: Lower and Upper Motor Neurons
We come now to another pivot in Medical Neuroscience where our focus shifts from sensation to action. Or to borrow a phrase made famous by C.S. Sherrington more than a century ago (the title of his classic text), we will now consider the “integrative action of the nervous system”. We will do so in this module by learning the basic mechanisms by which neural circuits in the brain and spinal cord motivate bodily movement.
18 个视频 （总计 252 分钟）, 2 个阅读材料, 2 个测验
完成时间为 1 小时
Movement and Motor Control: Understanding the Paradigm of Eye Movements
At this juncture in our exploration of motor control, let’s focus on one of the best studied paradigms for understanding the neural control of
movement: the eye movement system.
6 个视频 （总计 60 分钟）, 1 个阅读材料, 1 个测验

周9
完成时间为 3 小时
Movement and Motor Control: Modulation of Movement
Next, we will consider two major brain systems that modulate the output of upper motor neuronal circuits: the basal ganglia and the cerebellum. Take note: the output of these systems is NOT directed at lower motor circuits directly; rather, their output engages the motor thalamus and brainstem upper motor neuronal circuits. Thus, the actions of the basal ganglia and cerebellum are to modulate, rather than command, the activities of upper motor neurons. As you study the lessons in this module, appreciate how the basal ganglia and cerebellum function in a somewhat complementary fashion to modulate the initiation and coordination of movement, respectively.
11 个视频 （总计 154 分钟）, 2 个阅读材料, 2 个测验
完成时间为 2 小时
Movement and Motor Control: Visceral Motor Control
We conclude our survey of movement and motor control by considering the visceral motor system, perhaps better known as the autonomic nervous system. As you study this lesson, consider how the disparate physiology of the viscera has impact not only on the internal state of the body, but also on implicit processing in the forebrain. We will return to this matter when we consider the neurobiology of emotions near the conclusion of Medical Neuroscience
8 个视频 （总计 107 分钟）, 1 个阅读材料, 1 个测验

周10
完成时间为 6 小时
The Changing Brain: The Brain Across the Lifespan
This module represents another turning point in Medical Neuroscience. Now that we have surveyed human neuroanatomy and our sensory and motor systems, we are ready to take a step back and consider how this magnificent central nervous system came to be the way that it is. We will also learn how the brain re-wires itself across the lifespan as genetic specification, experience-dependent plasticity and self-organization continue to interact, re-shaping the structure and function of neural circuits throughout the central nervous system.
23 个视频 （总计 295 分钟）, 3 个阅读材料, 3 个测验

周11
完成时间为 4 小时
Complex Brain Functions: Associational Cortex
It may surprise you to know that in all of our studies of the neural systems for sensation and action, we have yet to properly account for the organization and function of roughly 75% of the entire cerebral mantle. Thus, only 25% of the cerebral cortex is accounted for by the modal sensory and motor cortical areas. The majority of the human cerebral cortex is multi-modal cortex that associates signals derived from one or more modal systems. We now turn our attention to this “associational cortex” as we consider more complex aspects of brain function.
11 个视频 （总计 169 分钟）, 1 个阅读材料, 1 个测验

周12
完成时间为 4 小时
Complex Brain Functions: Sleep, Emotion and Addiction
In this concluding module of Medical Neuroscience, we will consider the neurobiology of sleep and the neurobiology of emotion, including addiction. Both topics involve explorations of complex, widely distributed systems in the forebrain and brainstem that modulate states of body and brain.
13 个视频 （总计 205 分钟）, 2 个阅读材料, 2 个测验

周13
完成时间为 2 小时
Comprehensive Final Exam
This module contains materials that will help you prepare for the final challenge in Medical Neuroscience: our clinical case-based,
Comprehensive Final Exam.
1 个视频 （总计 22 分钟）, 1 个阅读材料, 5 个测验
完成时间为 6 分钟
Closing Remarks
Please allow me a few more moments of your time to express my thanks for all your efforts to make it through Medical Neuroscience, and to
wish you well on all your future endeavors!

预备知识

为顺利完成本课程的学习，强烈推荐学生具备细胞和分子生物学、系统生理学和人体解剖学本科水平的基础知识。

参考资料

尽管本课程是为具有一定知识背景的学生提供的自学课程，但也鼓励希望扩大知识面和加强对神经科学了解的学生，完成所有推荐阅读。本课程主要参考教材《神经科学》，第5版.，作者：普维斯等.（Sinauer Assoc出版社）。本教材附赠神经解剖学软件， Sylvius 4在线：人类神经解剖学交互式图集和视觉表，（可用作独立材料使用）。

常见问题

谁应学习本课程？
若你目前参加了健康职业课程或准备参加该课程，并具有常用预备知识，建议你应该参加本课程。本课程旨在为你提供基本神经科学和临床神经解剖学所需的基础知识。若你对前沿的脑科学、生物医学或生物工程领域的相关研究有兴趣，你将需要了解人脑解剖学，并深刻理解神经科学的不断发现对临床实践的重要性。若你只是对人脑结构和功能感到好奇，没有意愿将这些知识运用到健康专业或研究专业，你又愿意完成所有指定阅读和作业，你也可以学习本课程，扩展知识。

本课程的知识难度怎么样？
本课程的知识和内容，相当于健康专业研一的学生的知识水平。这就是本课程可能需要每周16-20个小时的学习的原因。

本课程有规定的教材吗？
在没有指定教材（《神经科学》第5版）的情况下，你也可以顺利的完成本课程学习。但是，若你有教材，完成所有推荐阅读，并通过附带的神经解剖学软件进行配套学习，那你的知识水平将得到显著提高。