Dr' Murray

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Dr. Murray
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Class 1 Why are we here?
Goals

• Get to know your professor.
• Get to know each other.
• Form study groups.
• Familiarize yourself with course organization
  web site.
• Understand the rules of the game.
• Begin active learning.

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Your prof.

• Dr. James A. Murray
• -home towns
• -college
• -graduate school (Ph.D.)
• -post-doctoral research
• -teaching positions
• -my research
• -activities

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Sea slug Tritonia
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(No Transcript)
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Tritonia sea slugs neural basis of orientation.
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Rules of the game
1. I am here to help you learn. 2. You must tell
me when you are not learning.
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Let's tour the website!
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What do you want to know?
1.
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What do you want to know?
1. I heard on the radio this morning about a
baby that was born and lived for quite a while,
seemingly perfectly healthy. It died quite
suddenly, when the autopsy was performed it was
discovered that there was no brain. How on earth
is that possible? 2. How did such a complex
cell like a nerve evolve? 3.  I've heard that in
bird during mating season, certain parts of their
brain actually get an increase in neurons, has
that been noted in any other animals? 4. Do
plants have anything like a neuron? 5.  What
causes "phantom pains" in a person who has lost
an appendage when there are no nerves there
anymore?
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What is a brain?
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Let's play... the Brain is Right
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Brain disease and repair

• 1000 disorders of brain nervous system
• 50 million have neurological disorders
• 44 million have mental disorders (excluding
  drugs alcohol!)
• Cost (lost productivity treatment)
• Chronic pain 100 billion per year
• Alzheimers disease 90 billion
• Hearing loss 56 billion
• Stroke 40 billion
• Depression 30 billion
• Others 80 billion
• 3 billion annual federal support for research
• Stem cell research
• Drugs
• Magnetic stimulation

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The Astonishing Hypothesis
The mind is caused by the brain

• Phantom limbs
• Schizophrenia hearing voices
• Modularity of brain function
• Phineas Gage
• Alzheimers

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Overall lessons

• You are responsible for learning.
• I am responsible for helping, but I cant make
  you learn.
• The brain is more complex than we can imagine.
• The answers to most questions are available
  on-line.