| Sensory Biology is a discipline in which we attempt to gain an understanding of how organisms extract information from their environment. One of the key characteristics of life is the ability to respond to environmental stimuli. Organisms must be able to interface with the stimulus, transduce the information into a neural signal ,interpret the neural input, and initiate behavioral responses that are appropriate to the stimulus. This course will focus on each aspect ofthis process for each sensory modality. The discussion of a sensory system will begin with the physical nature of the stimulus (sensory systems will be divided into chemical, mechanosensory, and electromagnetic senses). This will be followed by the biological interface between the stimulus and the receptor organ, and will focuson the physics of stimulus detection. Then the transduction and neuralencoding of the stimulus will be discussed, followed by discussions on central projections, behavioral outputs (psychophysics), and artificial sensory systems. Thus the course will encompass a broad spectrum of biological disciplines (biophysics, anatomy, neuroscience, psychophysics, and artificial intelligence) using sensory systems as a unifying theme. In addition, the class will engage in discussions on the ecological and evolutionary constraints on sensory system design. |