Neuroscience Reconstructed: Genetics and Development

Modern neuroscience is multidisciplinary and collaborative. We need to integrate knowledge of experimental and theoretical approaches to neuroscience, and look at the brain and brain function from different perspectives: for example, genes can partially explain differences in reading ability, but there is no single gene that makes someone a good or a poor reader. And genes can be turned on and off by external factors such as someone’s diet or a virus infection. So to understand something as complex as reading ability, we need to stitch together knowledge about the role of genes, proteins, cells, and large networks of cells.

In this course on Genetics and Brain Development, we will focus on the principles of neurogenetics and brain development and we will introduce you to the fields of genomics, transcriptomics, epigenomics and their applications.

week 1: Basics of gene expression

week 2: Genetic variation, gene networks and epigenetic

week 3: Genome, epigenome and transcriptome

week 4: Overview of embryonic development

week 5: The birth of the nervous system

week 6: Methods and tools in genetics

week 7: Gene therapy in the nervous system

week 8: Introduction to big data

week 9: Introduction to modelling in neuroscience