Advanced Neuromuscular Junction Physiology
(PHSL 5511)

Next offered: May 14-18, 2007

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER

This intensive one-week course consists of 40 hours of lecture and laboratory experience. The course will provide foundation lectures and practical examples of classic electrophysiological measurements with emphasis on skeletal muscle and the neuro-muscular junction. The course will focus on learning experimental techniques to record:

• Resting membrane potentials
• Skeletal muscle action potentials
• End-plate potentials
• Miniature end-plate potentials

The primary preparation for the course is an isolated frog nerve-muscle preparation. While normal muscular function will be emphasized, numerous examples of disease states and/or the effects of pharmacological agents will be provided throughout the course. There will be supporting lectures and demonstrations; however, the primary purpose of the course is for hands-on experiments.

Selected Lecture Topics
• Muscle Contraction
• Biophysical Basis of Membrane Potentials
• Transgenic Approaches NMJ Study
• Amplifying Biological Signals
• Stimulated Force Assessment in Humans
• Neuromuscular Signal Transmission
• Neuromuscular Disorders
• Electrical Stimulation to Restore Muscular Function
• Pharmacology of the Neuromuscular Junction

Instructors include:
• Vincent A. Barnett, Ph.D.,
   Course Director
• John Day, MD
• Paul Iaizzo, Ph.D.
• Kathleen R. Zahs, Ph.D.