What is Neurobiology?

Neurobiology is a complex science that studies the brain and nervous systems of humans and other animals. Neurobiology can study the development of the brain in the developing animal or the neurological origin of disease, for example. This field comprises many different methods of study. Some neurobiology focuses on the molecular structures of the brain and nervous system. Larger complete systems, like the function and structure of the cerebral cortex, may be studied. Scientists can look at biological factors that impact learning or mood, or they may study how early genetic material develops into various areas of the brain. Early breakthroughs in modern neurobiology date back to the 1960s. Such studies helped explain processes and developmental aspects of the brain. Early neurobiologists studied the properties of single neurons and amine neurotransmitters, evaluated the role of peptides in neurotransmission, and traced the development of the fetal brain. Perhaps the most significant ...  more

• "Neurobiology is the study of nerve cells, and the ways in which they are organized to form nervous systems which mediate animal behavior" Gordon M. Shepherd • Investigating the neural substrates of behavior. II. Brief History of the Cellular Basis of Neurobiology A. Cell theory: living organisms are composed of cells 1. plants a. Mathias Schleiden, Berlin, 1838 2. animals a. Theodor Schwann, 1839 3. originally excluded the nervous system B. Early anatomical studies on neurons 1. Jan Purkinje, Czech, 1837 (overhead-Shepherd) a. little more than nucleus and cytoplasm 2. Otto Deiters, German, 1865 (overhead-Shepherd) a. motor neuron of spinal cord b. distinguished two fibers "protoplasmic projections" C. Reticular versus Cell Theory 1. Reticular Theory: axons split into fine branches that were continuous with fine branches and dendrites of other cells a. analogous to circulatory system 2. Camillo Golgi, Italy, 1873 (overhead) a. developed stain for neurons 3. Santiago Ramon y Cajal, ...  more