Biology Learning Memory Course
Description
This course covers molecular, cellular, circuit, systems, neuroanatomy, theory, models and cognitive approaches to learning and memory. The cross-disciplinary focus on learning and memory in this course is intended to present an integrative view of the subject that emphasizes emerging findings that take advantage of novel groundbreaking experimental models. Although this course is primarily for graduate students, advanced undergraduates may also register.
The three special events organized in connection with this course (The ICLM Lecture, The ICLM Journal Club and the Southern California Learning and Memory Symposium) are intended to expose graduate students to emerging concepts and leading figures in the field of learning and memory.
This course is being offered by multiple programs
These include the Departments of Neurobiology (M200G), the Interdepartmental Neuroscience Program (M220), the Molecular, Cellular & Integrative Physiology (M200G), and by the Department of Psychology (M208).
Chair
- Alcino J. Silva (silvaa#g.ucla.edu)
Lecturers
- Alcino Silva
- Carlos Portera Cailliau
- Gina Poe
- Jeff Donlea
- Jesse Rissman
- Josh Trachtenberg
- Laura DeNardo
- Nanthia Suthana
- Paul Mathews
- Weizhe Hong
The Course meets once a year (SPRING), from 1:00- 2:50 PM in the Green Room (63-214 CHS). The course will start on Monday, April 1 2024 and will run through Wednesday, June 5. All PDFs for the lecture presentations and references will be shared by email and/or will be available on line on the UCLA CCLE website or this page as soon as they are available.
| Lecture Info | Lecturer/Lecture | Readings |
| Monday, April 1 2024 Part 1- Introduction to Course Part 2- Maps of neuroscience information |
Alcino Silva | |
| Wednesday, April 3 Molecular, cellular and circuit mechanisms that link memories across time |
Alcino Silva |
Cai et al, Nature 2016
Shen et al, Nature 2022 Silva Scientific American 2017 |
| Monday April 8 Sleep and memory |
Jeff Donlea | |
| Wednesday, April 10 Sleep and memory |
Jeff Donlea | |
| Monday, April 15 Role of the medial pre frontal cortex in cognitive function |
Laura DeNardo | |
| Wednesday, April 17 Role of the medial pre frontal cortex in cognitive function |
Laura DeNardo | |
| Monday, April 22 Circuit mechanisms underlying motor memory formation in the cerebellum |
Paul Mathews | |
| Wednesday, April 24 Circuit mechanisms underlying motor memory formation in the cerebellum |
Paul Mathews | |
| Saturday, April 29 | Weizhe Hong | |
| Monday, May 1 | Weizhe Hong | |
| Saturday, May 6 | Gina Poe | |
| Monday, May 8 | Gina Poe | |
| Saturday, May 13 |
Joshua Trachtenberg
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| Monday, May 15 |
Joshua Trachtenberg
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| Monday, May 20 Cognitive perspective taking in humans, mice, and in autism |
Carlos Portera Cailliau |
Cortical interneurons in autism Impaired perceptual learning in a mouse model of Fragile X syndrome |
| Wednesday, May 22 Cognitive perspective taking in humans, mice, and in autism |
Carlos Portera Cailliau
|
|
| Monday, May 27 No Class: Memorial Day |
No Class: Memorial Day
|
|
| Wednesday, May 29 Treatments for human memory |
Nanthia Suthana
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| Monday, June 3 Treatments for human memory |
Nanthia Suthana
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| Monday, June 5 | Jesse Rissman |
Midterm Exam due on May 8th, 2024
Final Exam due on June 10th, 2024
Midterm Exam
The students will choose between writing either a literature review, a review based on a paper given in a talk in the ICLM Journal Club, a grant proposal, or preparing 5 researchmaps
The review and grant should not be more than 5 pages (single spaced not including references). Either manuscript should stress novel and creative ideas about the material presented in class or covered in the ICLM Journal Club. The reviews should not be simple rewrites of published literature/reviews. They should instead expand on a new insight or perspective in one of the themes presented in class. The proposal CANNOT be on the general area that you are currently working with or associated with! For example, if you are currently working on laboratory X, you cannot write a review on that laboratory’s specific area.
The grant proposal should focus on the next step of one of the subjects presented in class. It should include a summary with an outline of specific aims of the experiments proposed, an introduction with the background for the experimental plan, and a section with a summary of the experiments proposed (they should be feasible experiments based on published methods). The proposal CANNOT be on the general area that you are currently working with or associated with! For example, if you are currently working on laboratory X, you cannot write a proposal on that laboratory’s specific area.
Here is a general guideline for the grant proposal:
- 1/2 page for an abstract with clearly outlined specific aims (may no be advisable to have more than 3 aims).
- 1 page introduction where you tell the reader why the topic is interesting and important and why the previous work leads to the questions posed in the proposal.
- 3 pages description of the experiments proposed, including specific hypothesis tested by each key experiment and possible alternative interpretations of the results.
- 1/2 page where you discuss possible problems with the proposed experiments and how you would get around them.
Analysis of 5 research papers using Researchmaps (www.researchmaps.org)
Please choose 5 research papers in learning and memory (related to your own work or to work in the course) and map the experiments in these five papers as we described and discussed in class. Please, use the Researchmaps app for this, as it will facilitate the process of mapping the experiments in those papers. Although we covered the process of mapping research papers in the course, the web page of the app has a number of videos that will help you with this process. If you get stuck, please do not hesitate to contact me with questions (silvaa@mednet.ucla.edu or alcinojsilva@gmail.com). At the end of this process, what will you actually hand in as part of your midterm? You should hand in the 5 research maps you derived for each paper, along with the full citations for those papers. You can copy the research map from the app (www.researchmaps.org) by “printing the screen”, or even by taking a picture with your phone and then incorporating the picture in the exam along with the references for the papers you used.
PLEASE MAKE SURE YOU SEND THE EXAM BY E-MAIL TO silvaa@g.ucla.edu AND alcinojsilva@gmail.com by no later than 9 AM of Monday, May 8, 2024
Final Exam
There is a take home final exam.
The answers to the final exam should take 3-4 pages and no longer than 1-2 hours to write.
MAKE SURE YOU SEND THE EXAM BY E-MAIL TO silvaa@g.ucla.edu AND alcinojsilva@gmail.com by no later than 5 PM on June 10th, 2024.
This content is protected and may not be shared, uploaded or distributed, © Alcino Silva, 2022
Articles/reviews
Each week the class will cover a different topic, and for each topic, there will be one or more PDFs with articles and reviews as assigned readings (see Schedule). To download the PDFs for each topic go to the Schedule and, please click on each article’s name. PLEASE BE PATIENT DOWNLOADING THE PDFs. Some of the PDFs are scanned articles, and as a consequence, the files are quite large and may take longer than usual to download…
Class PowerPoint lectures
Please note that it is possible to download some of the PowerPoint files for the lectures. Simply click on the lecture titles in the on line Schedule.
Textbooks
Students are encouraged to consult two different texts:
J. David Sweatt
Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, U.S.A.
Elsevier: Mechanisms of Memory
Yadin Dudai,
The Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel
Oxford University Press: Memory from A to Z
The Department of Neurobiology main office (73-235 CHS) will help with all of the audiovisual equipment required for the course. Please, arrive a little early and make sure the equipment is working and get the key for room (Green Room (63-214 CHS) from the Neurobiology Office (CHS 73-235). Please, contact the office with any requests, problems, etc.
UCLA Dept. of Neurobiology, CHS 73-235
Phone: 310-825-5592
Fax: 310-825-2224
For all other questions concerning the course please contact:
Alcino J. Silva
silvaa@ucla.edu