Neurobiology of behaviour

Course goals

ATTENTION: This course has mandatory components that involve working with live animals and/or animal material.

Entry requirements          
Passed the course ‘Neurobiology’ (B-B2NEUR10) or a similar course. The following courses are highly recommended: Moleculair genetische onderzoekstechnieken (B-B2MGOT14) or Molecular Biology & Biochemical Techniques (MBLS-202), Behavioural biology (B-B2GEBI05), The Cell (B-B2CEL09) or Cell Biology (MBLS-101), Data science en biologie (B-B2DSB18) or Mathematics and Programming (MBLS-102).

For students that have taken courses at the BMW bachelor’s program: ' Neurowetenschappen' is considered comparable to Neurobiology; ' Introductie neurowetenschappen' is not sufficient as prerequisite knowledge for Neurobiology of Behaviour).

Study interest direction
This course is part of the study interest direction Neurobiology and is recommended for the direction Behavioural biology.

Language
The course is entirely in English.

Content
Neurobiology of behaviour, or neuroethology, tries to explain animal behaviour using neurobiological concepts. It is a highly multidisciplinary research area that operates between the borders of behavioural science and neuroscience. You will encounter information at different scales: from molecules to synapses, to nerve cells, and to circuits that mediate behaviours. Activity and plasticity in these structures is key to understanding behaviour. Therefore, electrophysiological, optogenetic and imaging techniques, that measure and manipulate this activity, will be central in the course.

In the theoretical part of the course, students will get a firm basis on the following topics:

• General behaviour, brain evolution, brain variability and animal studies on specific Key influencers of behaviour like reward, learning and memory
• Neuronal circuits, ensembles, physiology of neurons, dendritic integration, axons and intrinsic plasticity will be linked to behaviour.
• Synapses, synaptic plasticity and techniques to measure and/or manipulate activity.

In the practical part, diverse vertebrate and invertebrate animal models will be covered. This part will involve a lecture on ethical considerations followed by the generation of a CCD proposal on the model organism of the project. Students will be able to do a limited set of experiments in model organisms like Drosophila melanogaster, Caenorhabditis elegans, Danio rerio, Rattus norvegicus and different bird species held in Avifauna. In the project, the students will go through the research cycle and will encounter experimental challenges that need to be met. The results of the projects will be analysed and presented in the form of a report and a presentation during a symposium.

The aim of this course is to provide students with the conceptual foundation to understand the links between these different scales - from molecules to behaviour - and to discover how connecting these scales can provide an integrated understanding of nervous system functioning.

Teaching methods

• Lectures
• Guest lectures
• Self-study
• Tutorials
• Practicals
• Excursion
• Symposium with presentations

Effort obligations:
Many components of the course have mandatory attendance and participation requirements:

• The Guest lectures
• The practicals
• The tutorials
• The excursion
• The project
• The symposium
• The exams

Transport to Avifauna is by public transport and may therefore involve costs.
In the projects you will work on different spicies: You might work with live animals (Drosophila melanogaster, Caenorhabditis elegans, or Danio Rerio embryo’s) or work with video recordings from Rattus Norvegicus and/or do noninvasive observations of several different bird species.

Assessment

• Theoretical Exam (60%)
• Project participation and individual report (30%)
• Project proposal CCD (group effort, pass/fail)
• Symposium participation (group effort 10%)

All components need to be sufficient (≥5.5)

All assessment is in English.

Study material
Mandatory:

• Primary and secondary literature, accessed via UBU or internet
• Materials on Brightspace
• Lab coat, safety goggles
• Transport to Avifauna

Recommended:

• Augustine et al.: Neuroscience, 7^th edition, Oxford University Press, 2023 (ISBN:9780197572511).

Content

ATTENTION: This course has mandatory components that involve working with live animals and/or animal material.

Entry requirements          
Passed the course ‘Neurobiology’ (B-B2NEUR10) or a similar course. The following courses are highly recommended: Moleculair genetische onderzoekstechnieken (B-B2MGOT14) or Molecular Biology & Biochemical Techniques (MBLS-202), Behavioural biology (B-B2GEBI05), The Cell (B-B2CEL09) or Cell Biology (MBLS-101), Data science en biologie (B-B2DSB18) or Mathematics and Programming (MBLS-102).

For students that have taken courses at the BMW bachelor’s program: ' Neurowetenschappen' is considered comparable to Neurobiology; ' Introductie neurowetenschappen' is not sufficient as prerequisite knowledge for Neurobiology of Behaviour).

Study interest direction
This course is part of the study interest direction Neurobiology and is recommended for the direction Behavioural biology.

Language
The course is entirely in English.

Content
Neurobiology of behaviour, or neuroethology, tries to explain animal behaviour using neurobiological concepts. It is a highly multidisciplinary research area that operates between the borders of behavioural science and neuroscience. You will encounter information at different scales: from molecules to synapses, to nerve cells, and to circuits that mediate behaviours. Activity and plasticity in these structures is key to understanding behaviour. Therefore, electrophysiological, optogenetic and imaging techniques, that measure and manipulate this activity, will be central in the course.

In the theoretical part of the course, students will get a firm basis on the following topics:

• General behaviour, brain evolution, brain variability and animal studies on specific Key influencers of behaviour like reward, learning and memory
• Neuronal circuits, ensembles, physiology of neurons, dendritic integration, axons and intrinsic plasticity will be linked to behaviour.
• Synapses, synaptic plasticity and techniques to measure and/or manipulate activity.

In the practical part, diverse vertebrate and invertebrate animal models will be covered. This part will involve a lecture on ethical considerations followed by the generation of a CCD proposal on the model organism of the project. Students will be able to do a limited set of experiments in model organisms like Drosophila melanogaster, Caenorhabditis elegans, Danio rerio, Rattus norvegicus and different bird species held in Avifauna. In the project, the students will go through the research cycle and will encounter experimental challenges that need to be met. The results of the projects will be analysed and presented in the form of a report and a presentation during a symposium.

The aim of this course is to provide students with the conceptual foundation to understand the links between these different scales - from molecules to behaviour - and to discover how connecting these scales can provide an integrated understanding of nervous system functioning.

Teaching methods

• Lectures
• Guest lectures
• Self-study
• Tutorials
• Practicals
• Excursion
• Symposium with presentations

Effort obligations:
Many components of the course have mandatory attendance and participation requirements:

• The Guest lectures
• The practicals
• The tutorials
• The excursion
• The project
• The symposium
• The exams

Transport to Avifauna is by public transport and may therefore involve costs.
In the projects you will work on different spicies: You might work with live animals (Drosophila melanogaster, Caenorhabditis elegans, or Danio Rerio embryo’s) or work with video recordings from Rattus Norvegicus and/or do noninvasive observations of several different bird species.

Assessment

• Theoretical Exam (60%)
• Project participation and individual report (30%)
• Project proposal CCD (group effort, pass/fail)
• Symposium participation (group effort 10%)

All components need to be sufficient (≥5.5)

All assessment is in English.

Study material
Mandatory:

• Primary and secondary literature, accessed via UBU or internet
• Materials on Brightspace
• Lab coat, safety goggles
• Transport to Avifauna

Recommended:

• Augustine et al.: Neuroscience, 7^th edition, Oxford University Press, 2023 (ISBN:9780197572511).