Course in Vertebrate Brain Evolution
I’m teaching a course for the Master’s Degree in Neuroscience at University of Trieste, Italy. I attended to this Master’s Degree as a student in 2010/2012. Being a visiting professor for the very same Master is both a way of “giving back” to the University where I started my career and a great honor to me.
Introduction
The primary goal of this course is to provide a broad overview on the brain evolution in vertebrates, with particular attention to the mammalian cerebral cortex evolution.
Topics will include: basis of comparative neuroanatomy; introduction to evolutionary developmental biology approach (evo-devo); comparative histogenesis, including genetic regulation of cell differentiation within different vertebrate species.
The final part of the course will focus on laboratory activities and state-of-the-art strategies to carry on brain evolutionary research. Here, students will learn about common practical issues which arise while addressing concrete research questions.
Contents
The course gives a general introduction to the anatomy of the different parts of the central nervous system in vertebrates. It provides a basis on comparative brain morphogenesis, with special attention to the eovlution of genetic regulations of such processes.
A big portion of the course focuses on comparative brain histogenesis, e.g. cell differentiation in different organisms, with particular attention to mammalian nervous cell diversity. The evolutionary developmental (evo-devo) approach is explained.
In the following part of the course, state of the art laboratory techniques are shown from recent literature within the evolutionary developmental neurobiology field.
The last part of the course helps the students practice on short talks on scientific papers selected by them, and approved by the professor.
Lectures
– Basis of comparative neuroanatomy
– Basis of comparative brain morphogenesis
– Comparative brain histogenesis
– Evolutionary developmental approach: a genetic perspective
– Laboratory techniques for evolutionary research
– 15 min short talk presentation practice
For more information…
Past Teaching experience
I have been a teaching assistant for the course “Neuroembriology”, taught by professor Antonello Mallamaci at the Master’s Degree in Neuroscience at the University of Trieste. Specifically, I taught lectures on cortical glia development (“Cortical astrogenesis” and “Cortical oligodendrogenesis”) in 2013, 2014, and 2015.