Course Description
How do we know when it is time to eat and when we should stop? How does diet impact thoughts, memories, and behavior? How nutrition affects the brain and cognitive functions along with the role of the central nervous system in regulating eating behavior and body weight.
Athena Title
Nutrition and Neuroscience
Semester Course Offered
Offered spring
Grading System
A - F (Traditional)
Course Objectives
The student will be able to: - Demonstrate understanding of basic principles of nutritional neuroscience. - Search, read, critically analyze, and summarize primary literature. - Explain and present current topics in nutritional neuroscience research. - Formulate hypotheses and design experiments. - Demonstrate ability to interpret data.
Topical Outline
Neuroscience: anatomy and physiology Homeostatic regulation of food intake and energy expenditure Diet, exercise, and learning and memory Gut-brain axis and behavior Nutritional endocrine signals: Insulin, GLP-1, leptin, ghrelin, and impact on the brain and behavior Early life nutrition and brain development Glucose regulation and counterregulatory mechanisms Stress, the HPA axis, and food intake Diet, the brain, and reproductive function
Syllabus
Public CV