Advanced Course on Genes, Circuits and Behavior

The course will begin with lectures on our current knowledge of how genes affect behavior in the invertebrate genetic model organism, Drosophila melanogaster. Prof. Ralph Greenspan will teach this part of the course. One of the biggest challenges in behavioral neuroscience is to determine how genes alter the functioning of a neural circuit and how this circuit function correlates with behavior. Prof. Ann-Shyn Chiang’s laboratory has begun mapping neural circuits in the adult Drosophila brain. His lectures will elaborate on the significant progress already made in this ambitious project and its relevance to understanding defined behaviors in Drosophila. The second half of the lecture course will transition into the study of vertebrate behavior and related human disease. Prof. Nick Spitzer will discuss the role of activity in development of neural circuits followed by Dr. Abraham Palmer who will discuss among other topics vertebrate models of genetic diseases related to human behavior.