Course Identification

Brief summary of items that will be covered in the course:

1. General introduction to the structural and functional relationships between the brain, the circulation, and the immune system.

2. Introduction to the brain as an "immune privileged" site.

3. Brief summary of the cellular composition of the brain, and the interplay among the interacting cell types.

4. The diversity of innate immunity within and outside the brain, during ontogeny and in adulthood.

5. Cellular and molecular aspects of central nervous system homeostasis and repair.

6. Life-long cell renewal in the adult brain: implications for behavior, cognition, and resilience to mental stress.

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7. Immunity and cell renewal in the brain in health and disease

8. Immunity and resilience to stress, and implications to mental disorders.

9. The role of the immune system in the aging, Alzheimer's Disease, age-related dementia, and other neurodegenerative diseases

10. Immunotherapy to neurodegenerative e disorders

Upon successful completion of the course students will be able to:

[1] Demonstrate understanding of Brain immunology.

[2] Discuss the role of the immune system in brain plasticity (cell renewal from neural stem cells, cognition and coping with stress) and what gets awry in brain aging and dementia.

[3] Demonstrate understanding of basic aspects of brain immunity under stress, posttraumatic stress disorders and depression.

[5] Have basic aspect of central nervous system healing and the missing link in neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer?s diseases and ALS.