Teaching

Teaching

Course name:                        Neurodevelopment and disorders

Course code:                         JNS 206

Course credits:                     3:0

Course instructor:                Dr. Achira Roy

Total course hours:              41 hours (including examinations)

Course Semester:                 Jan-Apr 2023

 

Course Modules:

  1. Neurulation and formation of neural plate and neural tube in vertebrates          (3 hours)

  1. Neural patterning and fate specification                                                               (15 hours)
    1. Axes formation, basic compartmentalization of embryonic mammalian brain
    2. Early signaling centers in vertebrate brain, concept of ‘organizer’
    3. Signaling pathways
    4. Transcription factors
    5. Examples of developmental anomalies due to respective mutations
    6. Examples of techniques/technologies used to study the above processes in health and disease

  1. Genesis and localization of neural cells                                                            (10.5 hours)
    1. Types of neural cells
    2. Neurogenesis and gliogenesis – proliferation, differentiation, signaling
    3. Neuronal migration, axon guidance
    4. Circuit formation with emphasis on mammalian forebrain and hindbrain
    5. Examples of techniques/technologies used to study the above processes in health and disease        
  2. Evolutionary perspectives related to conserved and altered gene functions across different vertebrate brains, with emphasis on signaling centres and cortical folding                                                                                                                                    (3 hours)
  3. Introduction to developmental critical periods and spectrum of neurodevelopmental disorders ranging from spina bifida, defects in cortical growth and folding to epilepsy and autism/ID; therapeutics and translational neuroscience                                  (4.5 hours)

 

Tutorials/Exam/Student presentations:

  • Mid-phase presentations on seminal papers in neurodevelopment               (3 hours)
  • Written examination                                                                                        (2 hours)