The Human Brain Course
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The Human Brain
Unit 1 — The Embodied Brain
Unit I — Introduction: The Brain as a Control System
Why Have a Brain?
Evo-Devo and the Vertebrate Brain Plan
The Embodied Brain
The brain as a connected map
Unit III - Signaling
Unit III — Signaling
Chapter 3.1 — The Cells of the Brain
Chapter 3.2 — How a Neuron Is Excited
Chapter 3.3 — The Slow Chemistry
Chapter 3.4 — How a Synapse Learns
Unit IV — Sensing the World for Action
Unit IV — Sensing the World for Action
Somatosensation: The Body Senses
Chapter 4.2 — Pain: The Sense That Tells You Something Is Wrong
Chapter 4.3 — Audition
Chapter 4.4 — The Visual System I: Turning Light Into Difference
Chapter 4.5 — The Visual System II: Building a World in the Cortex
Chapter 4.6 — The Visual System III: When Seeing Breaks
Chapter 4.7 — Taste: The Sense That Decides Whether to Swallow
Chapter 4.8 — Olfaction: The Sense That Breaks the Plan
Unit V — Action
Unit [N] — Movement: The Control System in Action
Getting to the Muscle
Acting on the Seen World
The Predicting Machine
Choosing What to Do
What It’s Worth
Unit VI - Goal Directed Futures
The Organ of Tomorrow
A Common Currency
Holding the Line
Feeling the Future
The Futures of Others
Wandering When Full
Tomorrow Never Comes
Appendices
Appendix: Genetics Primer
Site Under Construction
Published
June 20, 2026
Getting the infrastructure ready for the Fall 2026 semester.