Principles of Neuroscience

Objectives

We are currently living the most exciting period of the yet young eld of
Neuroscience. Technological advances allow us to do now what many of the first
neuroscientist couldn't even imagine: to record neural activity while animals are
freely moving, image the activity of thousands of neurons at the same time, use
light to activate or inhibit populations of neurons of behaving animals, image
the activity of human brains using magnetic resonance or even to modulate the
electrical activity of the brain as a therapeutic tool.
The idea of `cracking' the neural code has inspired neuroscientists and even
presidents that gathered whole nations in the e ort of perceiving how the brain
works. This is one of the main scientific endeavors of human kind. Further-
more, in spite of the formidable advances in medicine, neuropsychiatry persists
as one of the most challenging medical fields. Hope lies in the expectation that
clinical advances will parallel neuroscientific advances.
One of the main objectives of this discipline is surely that students learn neuro-
science subjects essential for the understanding of the clinical problems that will
be further detailed in the clinical units of Neurology and Psychiatry. However, this is not the only objective. We also want to convey the enthusiasm for the
most fundamental aspects of Neuroscience, for the discovery process, so that stu-
dents may understand the road that lead us to the present, and also the current
challenges, and eventually how to overcome them.

Specific Objectives
The student should:
Obtain basic neuroscientfic knowledge that enables him/her to have an
integrative view of the nervous system, facilitating the future acquisition
of clinical skill and knowledge, specially in the areas of Neurology and
Psychiatry.
Complement this knowledge with fundamental neuroscience content, focusing
not only in the acquisition of knowledge but also in the discovery
process.

General characterization

Code

11121

Credits

Responsible teacher

Prof. Doutor Rui Costa

Hours

Weekly - Available soon

Total - Available soon

Teaching language

Portuguese

Prerequisites

Bibliography

1. Principles of Neurobiology, Liquin Luo (1st edition), 2016, Garland Science
2. Neuroanatomy: an Illustrated Colour Text, Crossman AR, Neary, D, (6th
edition), 2019, Elsevier
3. Head, Neck, and Neuroanatomy (Thieme Atlas of Anatomy),Schuenke M.,
et al, 2nd edition, Thieme.

The relevant sections of the general bibliography will be included
in the abstract for each lecture/practical/seminar.
Whenever the content of lectures/practicals/seminars is not adequately covered by the general bibliography, specific bibliography will be provided in the respective abstract
Examples of references used for support:
1. Neuroscience, Purves, D, (6th edition), 2018, Sinauer.
2. Principles of Neural Science, Kandel, E. R., Schwartz, J. H., Jessell, T.
M., Siegelbaum, S. A. & Hudspeth, A. J. (Fifth Edition).
3. Gray's Clinical Neuroanatomy, the anatomic basis for clinical neuroscience-
Elliott Mancall, David Brock, 1ed (2011), Elsevier Saunders

Teaching method

This year we will have to teach and learn under uncertain circumstances due
to the COVID-19 pandemic. As we planned the teaching for this year, we aimed
to reduce the social contact to the lowest possible, keeping the teaching as close
as possible of what would happen under normal circumstances. In general, we
decided to maintain the structure of theoretical and theoretic-practical classes
but replacing face-to-face classes with remote, synchronous teaching. The only
exception to this rule are two practical classes of central nervous system dissec-
tion/anatomical pieces visualisation. This compromise seems to us necessary
for the correct acquisition of spatial notion of the SNC, hard to obtain with re-
mote teaching or just by studying the bibliography. Notwithstanding, and having
a clear notion of the instability and uncertainty of the current times, we will
also have an alternative to be implemented if the circumstances impede these
face-to-face classes.