Neural Systems and Behavior

项目摘要/摘要。在我们对大脑如何产生简单和 复杂的行为及其在神经系统疾病和精神病理中的功能障碍需要研究人员 他们在神经科学方面有扎实的基础，对人类进化的偶然性有深刻的理解 人类神经生物学和行为学。自1978年创立以来，神经系统和行为(NS&B) 马萨诸塞州伍兹霍尔的MBL课程一直是这种跨学科培训的首选课程 大脑-行为关系的多层次分析。NS&B是一门为期八周的强化暑期课程， 在独特的学习环境中结合讲课、实验室练习和以学生为导向的研究。这个 20个课程的学生通常来自不同的学科，包括神经科学、动物行为学、 心理学、数学、计算机科学、物理学和工程学。他们之前的培训范围从 一年级博士生到正在转行的教职员工。最好的严谨的演讲 该领域的教师和研究人员为理解广泛的主题提供了坚实的基础， 从分子遗传学和神经基因组学基础到电生理学和信号处理，以及 甚至是认知能力。访问学者提供了进一步接触在研究中的最新突破 行为和认知的神经基础。在下一个资助期，NS&B将特别重视 招募优秀的基础和翻译科学家学者，他们的研究正在为 了解精神疾病的神经生物学，并加强分子和成像的整合 课程练习和研究工具的方法。关于科学、伦理和职业的午餐讨论 发展是本课程不可或缺的组成部分。实验练习(模块)构成了 这门课占据了学生的大部分时间，为学生提供了动手体验 使用最先进的设备解决尖端问题。课程分为四个部分，为期两周 具有不同的实验室模块和教员组的循环，每个都建立在 当然了。这些单元鼓励在生物组织的多个层面上进行调查。要最大化地 学习研究概念和技术，本课程使用一系列生物体和准备材料来 教授技术和解决与行为、神经系统功能和神经相关的问题 疾病。到每两周的周期结束时，学生们不仅掌握了复杂的技术，他们还 还收集和分析了他们构思和设计的一个研究项目的数据。这个 这些项目的创造性和多样性是NS&B课程的一个独特特征，而且从来没有 在任何其他教育环境中都可以复制。学生们发现NS&B是改变人生的事件，不仅是因为它 在智力上具有挑战性，并提供动手培训，但也因为独特的支持 自课程开始以来，环境和网络机会一直是课程的标志。

Project Summary / Abstract. Breakthroughs in our understanding of how the brain generates simple and complex behavior and how it malfunctions in neurological disease and pyschopathology require researchers who have a strong foundation in neuroscience and a deep understanding of the evolutionary contingencies of human neurobiology and behavior. Since its inception in 1978, the Neural Systems and Behavior (NS&B) course at the MBL in Woods Hole, MA, has been the premier course for this kind of interdisciplinary training in multi-level analysis of brain-behavior relationships. NS&B is an intensive, eight-week summer course that combines lectures, laboratory exercises, and student-directed research in a unique learning environment. The twenty course students typically come from diverse disciplines including neuroscience, animal behavior, psychology, mathematics, computer science, physics, and engineering. They range in their prior training from first year Ph.D. students to faculty members who are changing fields. The rigorous lectures by the best teachers and researchers in the field provide a solid foundation for understanding a wide range of subjects, from the basics of molecular genetics and neurogenomics to electrophysiology and signal processing, and even cognition. Visiting scholars provide further exposure to the most recent breakthroughs in the study of the neural basis of behavior and cognition. During the next funding period, NS&B will place particular emphasis on recruiting excellent basic and translational scientist scholars whose research is informing advances in understanding the neurobiology of mental illness as well as increasing the integration of molecular and imaging approaches into the course exercises and research tools. Lunch discussions about science, ethics, and career development constitute integral parts of the course. The laboratory exercises (modules) constitute the core of the course and occupy the majority of the students’ time, providing the students with hands-on experience using state of the art equipment addressing cutting-edge problems. The course is divided into four two-week cycles with different laboratory modules and sets of faculty, each building upon the prior experiences of the course. The modules encourage investigations at multiple levels of biological organization. To maximize learning of research concepts and techniques, the course uses an array of organisms and preparations to teach techniques and address questions relevant to behavior, the functioning of neural systems, and neural disease. By the end of each two-week cycle, the students have not only mastered complex techniques, they also have collected and analyzed data from a research project that they conceived and designed. The creativity and diversity of these projects are a singular feature of the NS&B course and have never been replicated in any other educational setting. Students find NS&B to be a life-changing event, not only because it is intellectually challenging and provides hands on training but also because of the uniquely supportive environment and networking opportunities that have been hallmarks of the course since its inception.