BioNB 392 - Drugs and the Brain

Professor:    Ron Harris-Warrick
                     W159 Seeley G. Mudd Hall
                     254-4355
                     rmh4@cornell.edu
                     Office Hours: Tuesdays 1:00 - 3:00 PM and Thursdays 3:00 - 5:00 PM in W159 Mudd Hall

TA:              Dustin Rubinstein
                     W211 Seeley G. Mudd Hall
                     254-4365
                     cdr25@cornell.edu
                     Office Hours: Mondays 12:00-1:00 and Thursdays, 3:00-5:00, W211 Mudd Hall.

Class hours:  Lectures Tues., Thurs, 10:10-11:25.  All classes meet in 251 Malott Hall.

Website: We have set up a course website that contains a lot of material for the course: http://courses.cit.cornell.edu/bionb392/BioNB392index.html. The two keywords you need to type in to download PDF files (such as old exams and sample term papers) are “drugs” and “brain”.  All of the papers that will be read in the discussion section are available as pointers to PDF files for you to download at the course website. I will also put the powerpoint presentations for each lecture on the website, if you wish to download them as well. The website will also offer other additional information about the course, so please check it regularly.

Textbooks: Required: J. S. Meyer and L. F. Quenzer, Psychopharmacology (Sinauer, 2005).  This is a new book that covers much of the material in the course, but at a lower level of sophistication than we will reach in our lectures. Can be used for important background and preparation for the lectures. It is best that you read the required chapter before each lecture rather than afterwards.  The book cannot substitute for the lectures.

Discussion Section: There will be a weekly discussion section required of all students.  This is an “active learning” discussion, where the section as a group will think about how to design experimental approaches to answering an assigned question in neuropharmacology. Each week, a basic question will be assigned to the class, along with a review article that briefly summarizes the background to the question.  You are responsible carefully reading and thinking about this review, then researching the literature (primarily PubMed) to identify recent research that relates to the question at hand, and finally thinking about an experimental approach to answering the question for that week.  You will be required to submit a single page summarizing your proposal, which you will use to participate in the discussion.  These pages will be handed in and graded by the TA.  Two students will lead the discussion of the question each week.  They will need to read additional papers and get together to think more deeply about the problem so as to be fully competent to initiate the discussion with their proposed experimental plan to solve the week’s question.  The TA, Dustin Rubinstein, will meet with you during his office hours to help you prepare for your week to lead the discussion section.

Exams: These will be a combination of factual questions (for example, the structures of the major transmitters and drugs) and short essays.  The essays will often ask for interpretation of results of an experiment, or design of an experiment to test a hypothesis, rather than simple recitation of facts. Examples will be put on our web site.

Grading:        Midterm Thurs., Oct. 4.  Will cover material through Sept. 27: 20%
                        Final will be a second midterm, covering the material starting Oct. 2: 20%
                        Discussion Section, papers and one presentation: 30%
                        One research paper (see below): 30%

Research Paper: You will be required to write one 5-7 page research paper during the semester.  This research paper will be in the format of a research proposal along the lines of an NIH grant proposal, where you design a set of experiments to answer a currently unsolved problem in neuropharmacology.  You can choose the area and will yourself design the question that you propose to study. This is not a simple assignment: it requires you to think like a scientist, rather than simply reading science papers.  You will need to be creative in coming up with an interesting and important question, and for designing the experimental plan that will lead to a solution to your problem.  You will have to do a considerable amount of reading of papers in the original literature, and citation of those papers will be required. We will be happy to talk with you during office hours about ideas you have and to give you advice about getting started in this project.

The internet is not considered a reliable source of information, and you should not cite “www.” references in your paper; however, you are encouraged to use the professional resources for searching the scientific literature to assist you in finding important published research papers relevant to your topic.  We strongly recommend PubMed, the search engine of the National Library of Medicine: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/PubMed/

This site allows you to enter search keywords, author names, years, etc., and then will give you a list of research papers that are relevant.  The first discussion section homework will be to complete a project using PubMed as well as the Science Citation Index, to familiarize yourselves with these search engines.

The research paper can be handed in any time during the semester, but will be due at the very latest on Tuesday, Nov. 27. A one-page brief description of your paper will be due on Thursday, Oct. 25.  In this brief description, give a title, a brief explanation of the questions to be addressed and a sketch of the experimental direction you will take.  Give an annotated bibliography listing at least 5 critical papers that you have already found, and in a sentence or two describe each one’s major result or conclusion.  We will give you feedback about the directions you are taking for the paper, to help you with the final design of your paper.