SU802: Medical neurobiology

The Study Board for Science

Teaching language: Danish or English depending on the teacher
EKA: N810001102
Assessment: Second examiner: Internal
Grading: 7-point grading scale
Offered in: Odense
Offered in: Autumn
Level: Master

STADS ID (UVA): N810001101
ECTS value: 5

Date of Approval: 07-03-2025


Duration: 1 semester

Version: Archive

Internal Course Code

SU802

Comment


Entry requirements

Completed bachelor's degree in biomedicine, pharmacy, pharmaceutical sciences or chemistry with pharmaceutical chemistry.

Academic preconditions

The course builds on the knowledge acquired in SU501: Anatomy and SU502: Medical Physiology.

Course introduction

The course aims to provide students with the necessary knowledge of the nervous system's normal structural and functional organization to understand common diagnostic and therapeutic principles for the major central nervous diseases. Topics from neuroscience research and its methods will be presented as a basis for critically assessing current knowledge and stimulating continued education and research.

Expected learning outcome

The learning objectives of the course are that the student demonstrates the ability to account for:

  • Gross anatomy of the nervous system.

  • Meningues and CNS blood supply
  • Cerebrospinal fluid production circulation and function.
  • Cellular organization and function of the nervous system
  • The electrochemical properties of neurons, incl. initiation and propagation of action potentials (nerve impulses).
  • Signal transduction in the synapse, incl. transmitter functions and possibilities for modulation of signal transmission.
  • Spinal cord and brain stem afferent and efferent connections and the neuronal basis for most important reflexes.
  • Peripheral somatosensory and visceral sensory receptors, propagation of somatosensory information from the periphery to the cerebral cortex.
  • Senses (vision, hearing, balance, taste, smell) and the propagation of the sensory information from the peripheral receptors to the cerebral cortex, sense reflexes.
  • Structural and functional organization of the motor pathways from cerebral cortex to muscle.
  • Functional interaction between primary cortical motor areas and other cortical areas.
  • Structural and functional organization of the basal ganglia and connected brain areas.
  • Cerebellum: structure and functional organization of the cerebellum.
  • Structural and functional organization of the thalamus and the cerebral cortex.
  • Modulation of cerebral cortical activity and the neural background for consciousness, sleep and arousal.
  • Cognitive functions, incl. language, perception of space, self and personality.
  • The structural and functional organization of the limbic system, the neural basis for emotions, motivation, learning and memory.

Content

The following main topics are contained in the course:

  • Nervous system gross anatomy including cellular neurobiology, basal neurophysiology and neurotransmission and blood supply
  • Spinal cord structural and functional organization with emphasis on spinal reflexes and sensory and motor pathways
  • Structural and functional organization of the brain stem and cerebral cortex
  • Sensory systems, incl. special senses (vision, hearing, balance, taste, smell)
  • Motor systems, incl. basal ganglia and cerebellum
  • The limbic system, emotions, learning and memory
  • Cerebral cortex, cortical functions, consciousness/arousal and sleep.

Literature

Purves et al: Neuroscience, 6th edition.
See itslearning for syllabus lists and additional literature references.

Examination regulations

Exam element a)

Timing

January

Tests

Written exam

EKA

N810001102

Assessment

Second examiner: Internal

Grading

7-point grading scale

Identification

Student Identification Card - Exam number

Language

Normally, the same as teaching language

Duration

4 hours

Examination aids

The exam is with limited aids. Only the following aids are allowed:

  • Built-in standard calculators in Windows/macOS/Linux.
  • Maple, Mathematica, Mathcad, MATLAB, GeoGebra Apps, R (including R-Studio), CAS TI-Nspire, MS Excel, and LibreOffice Calc are allowed. WordMat is permitted but not recommended. Use of WordMat is at your own risk, and no support will be provided for breakdowns or other errors caused by the program.

Internet is not allowed. However, you may access the course page in itslearning to open system "DE–Digital Exam" and complete any tests within the system.


ECTS value

5

Indicative number of lessons

46 hours per semester

Teaching Method

Planned lessons:
Total number of planned lessons: 46
Hereof:
Common lessons in classroom/auditorium: 30
Team lessons in classroom: 12
Team lessons in laboratory: 4

Each lecture begins with the presentation of new material, followed by a discussion between teachers and students in the next hour. Films are used as a demonstration tool to explain complex mechanisms and what happens when damage occurs in different parts of the brain. During team lessons, students work on assignments, some of which are prepared at home, and particularly challenging mechanisms are discussed.

Other planned teaching activities:
Students are expected to work independently with PowerPoint presentations, the textbook, and examples and questions made available on e-learn.

  • Self-study of the textbook and PowerPoint presentations, as well as study questions on e-learn.
  • Independent review of the introduction and training phases.
  • Revision in preparation for the exam.

Teacher responsible

Name E-mail Department
Åsa Fex Svenningsen aasvenningsen@health.sdu.dk Neurobiologisk Forskning

Additional teachers

Name E-mail Department City
Arun Mariappan mariappan@health.sdu.dk Institut for Molekylær Medicin
Mengliang Zhang mzhang@health.sdu.dk Institut for Molekylær Medicin
Reza M. H. Khorooshi rkhorooshi@health.sdu.dk Institut for Molekylær Medicin
Vijay Tiwari tiwari@health.sdu.dk Institut for Molekylær Medicin

Timetable

Administrative Unit

Biokemi og Molekylær Biologi

Team at Registration

NAT

Offered in

Odense

Recommended course of study

Transition rules

Transitional arrangements describe how a course replaces another course when changes are made to the course of study. 
If a transitional arrangement has been made for a course, it will be stated in the list. 
See transitional arrangements for all courses at the Faculty of Science.