Understanding The Brain: Know What Goes On Inside Your Head
Taught by Laura Moffat
Laura has always had a passion for the brain. She has a BS is Psychobiology and a PhD in Molecular Neurobiology. Her professional career has focused on the psychology of our human behavior and how that relates to marketing and advertising, but she still loves to geek out on the biology!
The brain is central to who we are as people and how we go about our daily lives.
It impacts how we walk and talk, how we feel and love, and how we behave and act. It’s a highly-complex organ that is continually sending signals through neurons to stimulate neighboring neurons to create action.
In diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s, the brain starts to degenerate and we can no longer function the way we want to. With epilepsy, the nervous system fires off abnormal signals and creates total chaos in the brain. And with addiction and drug abuse, we bathe parts of our brain in excess neurotransmitters at the expense of all other needs.
If you have ever had a curiosity about the brain and how it works, then this class will give you a basic understanding of:
- What cells the brain is made up of (neurons, dendrites, synapses, etc) and how they function
- The various parts of the brain and what they are used for
- The techniques and methods used to understand the brain (imaging, surgery, etc)
- The many diseases and injuries that impact the brain (Alzheimer’s, Epilepsy, Mental Health, etc)
