Meet Neurobiology:
the Science of the Brain
Online enrichment mini-course by Tel Aviv University
Course Details
Overview
Course type:
not-for-credit enrichment course with a certificate of participation
Course duration:
5 sessions:
- 5 days on one week, or
- once a week for one month
- save up to 30% by purchasing a bundle of 2 or 4 mini-courses
This mini-course is part of the High School Subscription. Purchase and save big!
Course summary:
What occurs in our brains when we see, or when we think, and even when we are feeling all sorts of feelings? How does our brain keep memories for days or even weeks, and why do we forget? Through this mini-course, we will dive into the depths of our nervous system and learn how the activity of simple cells allows us to create a sense of the world around us.
We will examine what our brain does while we are asleep and why.
Finally, we explore what happens to the brain during a stroke, traumatic injury, and Alzheimer’s, and see how Neurobiology can assist its recovery.
Sessions 1: Debunking the brain
Do we really use only 10% of our brain? Does having a bigger brain make you smarter? What is the difference between the right and left hemispheres of the brain? Most of us heard many "facts" about the brain, but not all are true. We’ll discuss famous myths about the brain and try to understand what science has to say.
Session 2: Seeing in your mind's eye
While eyes are the first step in seeing the world, much of our visual perception occurs in our brains. In this lesson, we’ll follow the pathway of seeing from the image, the eye, and the brain. We’ll ask why some people don’t see color and learn about patients who see perfectly fine but cannot recognize their mother’s face.
Session 3: The remembering brain
How does our brain create new memories? And where in the brain do memories reside? By examining cases of patients with memory loss, we will learn about the brain’s memory system. We will see what happens when we remember and discuss why our memory is not always as reliable as we would like.
Session 4: The science of sleep, and a sick brian
We spend much of our time sleeping, laying around, and seemingly doing nothing. What happens to our brains when we sleep? And why do we even have to sleep when we want to spend our time on more exciting things? In this lesson, we will learn about the brain’s activity during sleep, try to understand why we dream, and glimpse into what happens when we don’t sleep enough.
In our daily life, we take our ability to think, remember, see and feel for granted. However, many diseases threaten these simple functions. In this lesson, we will talk about different illnesses that can affect the brain and learn about current and future treatments for Alzheimer’s, stroke, and other brain disorders.