Typically Offered: The course is offered every even-numbered year in the Fall semester. This course is cross-listed with the graduate course 16:340:510.
Prerequisites and Other Registration Restrictions: None, but it is expected that students in the class have a solid background in biology and in physiological processes. Open to juniors and seniors.
Format: This course is conducted primarily as a lecture course for undergraduates. However, undergraduate students also need to participate in case study presentations and in discussion of research presentations by the graduate students in the class. Additional help is provided by appointment (email: dipak.sarkar@rutgers.edu).
Description: The course provides a comprehensive and up-to-date coverage of the inter-relationships between the central nervous system and the endocrine system in the mammal. The course also provides the student with basic concepts and experimental approaches in mammalian neuroendocrinology including cellular and molecular actions of hypothalamic and pituitary hormones and the role of these hormones in controlling reproductive functions, body metabolism (e.g. obesity and diabetes), stress, growth, biological rhythms, drug addiction and immunity. It also provides the opportunity for the student to learn how to critically interpret information from the neuroendocrinology literature.
Course Website, Resources and Materials: The course materials will be provided in the class (Neuroendocrinology text by D.K. Sarkar; Case Studies and Hot Topics). For additional reading material, it is recommended to use: An Introduction to Neuroendocrinology (2nd edition) by Michael Wilkinson and Richard E. Brown.
Assignments/Responsibilities, Grading & Assessment: Each student will prepare and present two case studies consisting of 20 points each. Case presentation will be a 20-min seminar describing the case and then analyzing the problem. One mid-term and one final take-home examinations consisting of 30 points each. Each take-home exam will be given on the topics discussed in the lectures. These exams will be formatted as short-essay and problem-solving questions.