This program is open to both graduate, postgraduate, and undergraduate students from any university or college. Since this is a summer program, admission to the program is handled by the Study Abroad Office at UConn. Students enroll in one Neuroscience course and one Spanish class to earn 6 credits. All students receive credits and a transcript from the University of Connecticut. You should get credit at your home university for these courses, and we can send information to your advisor to facilitate your getting credit. The program is limited to a total of 50 students.
Neuroscience in Salamanca Faculty and Teaching Assistants 2017
MEDS 5377: The Neurobiology of Hearing. Offered each year. (Dr. Oliver and Invited Faculty, 3 Credits, Honors; 15 Students Maximum) A graduate school course on the basis of sound processing. Become familiar with current research topics in Auditory Neuroscience, including synaptic physiology, neural circuitry, acoustics, physiology, and behavior. This course is taught by outstanding researchers from around the globe and includes faculty from UConn, Johns Hopkins, U Michigan, and the Institute for Neuroscience at the University of Salamanca. You will be exposed to research in an international context. This course is for upper-level undergraduate neurobiology majors, pre-med students, psychology majors, communication science majors, and graduate students. Undergraduate students should have completed an introductory neuroscience course (e.g., Biology of the Brain) or courses in physiological psychology, sensation and perception, or communication science. Some combination of these prerequisites is preferred. Permission from the instructor is required for registration. Undergraduate students (Honors and non-Honors students) with a grade of B- or above receive Honors credit for MEDS 5377. Students from Johns Hopkins, Michigan, and Purdue will receive credit from their home universities for this course.
More Details on the Neurobiology of Hearing Course
PSYC 2201: Drugs and Behavior. Offered in 2023. (Dr. Salamone, 3 Credits, Honors; 5 Student Minimum) This course is an overview of drug effects on chemical transmission in the nervous system, with an emphasis on the behavioral/psychological effects of drugs. The first half of the course provides an introduction to basic principles of psychopharmacology, with emphasis on the neurochemistry of drug action, chemical signaling in the nervous system, and the anatomy of several neurotransmitter systems, as well as the behavioral assessment of drug effects. The second half of the class builds upon the first, with a survey of drugs belonging to various classes (e.g., stimulants, antipsychotics, antidepressants, anti-anxiety agents), and a focus on drugs of abuse. In addition, the course matter extends beyond the discussion of drugs themselves and considers the question of what our knowledge of drug action tells us about the brain, normal and pathological psychological processes, and the tendency to consume drugs. The textbook will be Drugs, the Brain, and Behavior (Grilly and Salamone, 2011). The course syllabus generally follows the outline of the textbook.
Prerequisites: PSYC 1100, BIO 1107, or the consent of the instructor.
Drugs and Behavior in Spain Course Syllabus
PSYC 2200: Physiological Psychology. Offered 2023. (Dr. Chrobak, 3 Credits, Honors; 5 Student Minimum) This course is an introduction to the basics of neuroanatomy, genetics, neuropharmacology, basic and systems neurophysiology as well as emergent function (memory, attention, movement) and dysfunction. While the focus is on basic neurobiology, we will explore recent research on molecular genetics, neural microcircuits and the mechanism of drug action in relation to forebrain-based psychiatric/neurologic disorders (e.g., ADHD, schizophrenia, autism, basal ganglia disorders, Alzheimer’s, Huntington’s, Parkinson’s and drug-abuse disorders).
Prerequisites: PSYC 1100, BIO 1107, or the consent of the instructor.
Syllabus for Physiological Psychology
PNB 3251: Biology of the Brain. Offered in TBA. (UConn Health Neuroscience and PNB Staff, 3 Credits, Honors) Brain functions, from molecular to cellular and overall central nervous system organization. Topics of current interest. This course is for upper-level undergraduate physiology & neurobiology majors and is suitable for majors in the neurosciences, biological sciences, and psychology. Biology of the Brain presents provides students with a detailed foundation of cellular neuroscience that includes the ionic basis of resting and action potentials, synaptic transmission, sensory and motor systems neuroscience and plasticity. The required text for the course is Purves, et al, Neuroscience, 6th Edition. Students will be assessed on their classroom participation and examinations.
Prerequisites: One 2000-level course in PNB or consent of instructor.
Syllabus for Biology of the Brain
Spanish Foreign Study: 1193 (Beginner), 1193 (Intermediate), 3293 (Medical), and 3293 (Advanced Scientific). (USAL Staff, 3 Credits) All students have instruction in the Spanish language and elements of Spanish culture at a level matched to their level. Beginner and intermediate Spanish are for students with no previous Spanish or high school Spanish, respectively. Medical Spanish is for more advanced non-native Spanish speakers. Advanced scientific Spanish is a neuroscience special topics course offered for fluent, native and non-native Spanish speakers by Dr. Saldana in the Neuroscience faculty.
Syllabus for Spanish - Beginner
Syllabus for Spanish - Intermediate
Syllabus for Spanish - Medical
Syllabus for Spanish - Advanced Scientific
PRAGUE
Neuroscience Methods in Prague, Czech Republic: This is a short course on neuroscience methods at the Institute of Experimental Medicine at the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic. The course will use research in the auditory system to illustrate these general neuroscience methods. Laboratory visits and demos will introduce evoked potential recordings, extracellular recording in vivo, patch clamp recording in brain slices, neuroanatomy methods, two-photon calcium imaging in the cortex in vivo, prepulse inhibition behavior, acoustic startle, operant conditioning, anesthesia and surgery, acoustic measurements and signals, and audiological examination methods in humans. All students in the Neurobiology of Hearing class are expected to attend. Other students are encouraged to attend if interested in laboratory research. This is a 5-day, 4-night trip to Prague where the students will have two days of instruction and ample time to tour the city. Housing in Prague will be arranged only for students participating in the course.
Enrollment in the Neuroscience Methods course is typically limited to 25-30 students.