Phelps Laboratory
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TEACHING

ZOO 6927 - Evolution of Brain Size

Instructor: Steve Phelps, Carr 618, 392-6212, sphelps@ ufl.edu
Location: Carr 521, Tuesdays, 9:35-11:25 (periods 2 and 3)

Course blog

Quiz one

Course objectives: The course will be a broad survey of literature on the evolution of brain size, integrating ecological and evolutionary approaches with principles of neuroscience and gene expression. It is intended to provide an introduction to natural diversity in brain function for neuroscience students, and an introduction to behavioral neuroscience for students in ecology and evolution.

Reading: For each class, we will assign one or two focal papers and several optional support papers. Students are asked to post brief one-paragraph summaries of a focal paper and a support paper of their choosing on a course blog (above) no later than 12pm on the preceding Sunday. It would be appropriate for a summary to include a topic that the students found difficult to understand in the paper. Students will take turns leading class discussion. Discussion leaders will review summaries, and use them to help in preparing for class discussion.

Background: Because the topics and students are diverse, I provide suggested background reading for each of the major themes in the course. Although this reading is not required, I will give quizzes at the beginning of each of these themes that test major concepts. Students will be given a list of learning objectives and terms on which the quizzes will be based. A preliminary, ungraded self-assessment quiz will also help students assess whether preparatory work is needed. I don't intend this to be difficult, but I want to ensure that discussion is at an appropriate level for a graduate course.

Grading: Students will be given two points for each cogent reading summary posted, for a maximum of 50 pts. Another four points per class will be given for attendance and participation, for a maximum of 50 points. In-class quizzes will be worth a total of 50 points. Students will receive 50 points for leading discussions. Grading is not competitive, and students who keep up with the reading and participate in class should get A's.

Course schedule:

Jan 10
Introduction to class  
Jan 17 No class – background reading, including selection from Striedter, 2005  
     

Theme 1:

The evolution of whole brains – phylogeny and life-history

  
Jan 24 Taxonomic differences in brain size  
Jan 31 Energy and brain size – expensive tissues

Aiello and Wheeler 95, Armstrong 83
Feb 7 Energy and brain size – evolution of gene expression

Caceres 03, Uddin 04
     

Theme 2:

Region-specific size variation

  
Feb 14 Brain size and sociality

Byrne and Corp 04, Joffe and Dunbar 97
Feb 23* Linked regularities in brain size, Dr. Barb Finlay Finlay and Darlington 95, Kaskan et al. 02, Chen and Walsh 02
Feb 28 Vision and olfaction – volumetric and molecular trade-offs Barton et al. 95, Gilad et al. 04
Mar 7 Auditory specializations – bats and birds Kubke et al. 04, Covey 05
Mar 14 -- Spring break --  
Mar 21 Hippocampus, food-storing and spatial ability Clayton and Krebs 94, de Kort and Clayton 06, Biegler et al. 01
Mar 28 Bird-song – evolution of HVC and repertoire size DeVoogd et al. 93, Airey et al. 00, Spencer et al. 05
Apr 4 Vertebrate brain development Puelles and Rubinstein 94, Kiecker and Lumsden 05, Zapala et al 05
     

Theme 3:

Brain size and information

  
Apr 11 Population coding – managing costs of information  
Apr 18 Self-organizing maps and cortical plasticity – modifying perceptual acuity  
Apr 25

Maximizing the value of encoded information

  

*Note that the Feb 23 class is on Thursday