Developmental Neuroscience
Teaching hours and weekly schedule
This is a 1st semester course of about 2.5 weeks that corresponds to 5 ECTs and 39 hours of lectures including student presentations.
The course will take place in October-November and the weekly schedule includes about 4 hours of teaching per day every afternoon.
Co-ordinators
- Rebecca Matsas, Research Director, Head of Department of Neurobiology, Hellenic Pasteur Institute
- Panagiotis Politis, Principal Investigator, Biomedical Research Foundation of the Academy of Athens
Description:
This is an intensive 2.5-week course focused on cellular, molecular and biochemical aspects of developmental neurobiology and neuroscience. The courses will include lectures by established researchers with diverse and complementary academic profiles. The main emphasis of the course will be on the complex cellular events and signaling cascades that occur during embryogenesis that lead to generation of the nervous system. Our goal is to provide a systematic introduction to the molecular mechanisms that control cell fate specification, differentiation, and function of neural cells during mammalian brain development. An additional aim is to discuss nervous system plasticity in the adult brain and particularly how the presence of adult neural stem cells may contribute to brain repair strategies. Special attention will be given to describe the key methodological advances and research tools, developed in the last few years, which have changed our view about the formation of the mammalian brain. Therefore, this course will provide a contemporary overview of neural development for post-graduate students with some background in cell biology.
Course Overview
This course aims: a) to introduce participants to the major issues of developmental neuroscience, b) to familiarize students with the wide range of research approaches, tools and methodology currently used to study the development of the mammalian nervous system, c) to discuss the concept of neural stem cells during development and in the adult and d) to encourage students to develop the skills required for a meaningful appreciation of experimental strategies and research articles.
This course will cover recent advances in understanding the molecular and cellular events underlying cell fate specification and differentiation, migration, axon guidance, synapse formation, the critical role of neurotrophic factors, and cell death as a developmental process. Pathologies arising from failures of these processes will be discussed. In particular, the lectures will cover the following general subjects:
- Neural Induction
- Neural tube formation and patterning
- Cortical & Cerebellar Neurogenesis
- Regulatory mechanisms of cell cycle progression/exit
- Neuronal migration and differentiation
- Axon Guidance & Adhesion Molecules
- Trophic factors and programmed cell death during nervous system development
- Synapses: formation, function and plasticity
- Development of neural circuits
- Development of the neuroimmune system
- Gliogenesis, myelination, remyelination
- Neural stem cells, adult neurogenesis & neuroregeneration
- Advanced Methods in Developmental & Regenerative Neurobiology
Titles of lectures and names of the lecturers
A/A | Developmental Neuroscience | Lecturer |
1 | Neural Induction / Neural tube formation and patterning | Panos Politis |
2 | Cortical Neurogenesis | Myrto Denaxa |
3 | Cerebellar Neurogenesis, Adult Neurogenesis, Modeling human brain development and disease “in a dish | Rebecca Matsas |
4 | Gliogenesis & myelination | Florentia Papastefanaki |
5 | Axon Guidance & Adhesion Molecules | Maria Gaitanou |
6 | Development of neural circuits and plasticity | Laskaro Zagoraiou |
7 | Synapse: formation and function | Nondas Doxakis |
8 | Development of the neuroimmune system | Era Taoufik |
9 | Trophic factors and programmed cell death during nervous system development | Giannis Charalampopoulos |
10 | Advanced methods in developmental & regenerative neurobiology | Myrto Denaxa |
11 | Environmental and hormonal regulation of neurodevelopment | Giasemi Koutmani |
12 | Evolutionary perspectives of human cortical development | Christina Kyrousi |
