Neural Systems and Behavior

项目概要/摘要。我们对大脑如何产生简单和 复杂行为及其在神经系统疾病和精神病理学中的功能障碍需要研究人员 他们在神经科学方面有着坚实的基础，对进化的偶然性有着深刻的理解， 人类神经生物学和行为。自1978年成立以来，神经系统和行为（NS&B） 在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要课程， 多层次分析脑行为关系。NS&B是一个密集的，为期八周的夏季课程， 结合讲座，实验室练习，并在一个独特的学习环境学生为主导的研究。的 20名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。他们在之前的训练中， 博士第一年从学生到正在改变专业的教师。最好的严格的讲座 该领域的教师和研究人员为理解广泛的学科提供了坚实的基础， 从分子遗传学和神经基因组学的基础知识到电生理学和信号处理， 甚至认知访问学者提供了进一步接触的最新突破，在研究 行为和认知的神经基础。在下一个融资期内，NS&B将特别强调 招募优秀的基础和翻译科学家学者，他们的研究为以下方面的进展提供了信息： 了解精神疾病的神经生物学以及增加分子和成像的整合 课程练习和研究工具的方法。午餐讨论科学，道德和职业 发展是课程的组成部分。实验室练习（模块）构成了 占据了学生的大部分时间，为学生提供了实践经验 使用最先进的设备解决尖端问题。该课程分为四个两周 循环与不同的实验室模块和教师组，每一个建筑在以前的经验， 当然了这些模块鼓励在生物组织的多个层次的调查。最大化 学习研究概念和技术，该课程使用一系列生物体和制剂， 教授技术并解决与行为，神经系统功能和神经系统功能相关的问题。 疾病在每两周的课程结束时，学生们不仅掌握了复杂的技术， 他们还收集和分析了他们构思和设计的一个研究项目的数据。的 这些项目的创造性和多样性是NS&B课程的独特之处， 在任何其他教育环境中复制。学生发现NS&B是一个改变生活的事件，不仅因为它 是智力上的挑战，并提供动手训练，但也因为独特的支持， 环境和网络的机会，一直是课程的特点，因为它成立以来。

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.