Course sketch#
Animal Physiology is an undergraduate course that introduces students to the functional principles underlying animal life, with a particular focus on how nervous systems generate perception and behavior. The neuroscience-oriented part of the course covers fundamental concepts of neural function and plasticity, as well as the sensory and behavioral biology of the visual, olfactory, gustatory, auditory, and mechanosensory systems. Students will learn how animals detect and process environmental information and how this information is transformed into adaptive behavior. The practical component provides hands-on training in core experimental and computational approaches in modern physiology and neuroscience. This includes electrophysiological recordings and simulations of neural function, as well as methods for animal tracking and behavioral analysis. Together, these elements give students an introduction to both the conceptual foundations and the methodological toolkit of the field. The neuroscience-focused section is embedded within a broader animal physiology curriculum, which also includes complementary topics such as bioethics, developmental biology, and hormonal regulation. In this way, the course offers an integrated view of how physiological systems interact across levels of biological organization.
Target group#
- BA students (5th semester)
For further information please continue at our central course repository, BIO-10255 and BIO-16720.