Key Information
About the content
Nerves, the heart, and the brain are electrical. How do these things work? This course presents fundamental principles, described quantitatively.
Syllabus
- Week 1 - Electricity in Solutions
This week's theme focuses on the foundations of bioelectricity including electricity in solutions.The learning objectives for this week are:
• Explain the conflict between Galvani and Volta
• Interpret the polarity of Vm in terms of voltage...
- Week 2 - Energy into Voltage
This week we will examine energy, by which pumps and channels allow membranes to "charge their batteries" and thereby have a non-zero voltage across their membranes at rest.The learning objectives for this week are:
- Describe the function of th...
- Week 3 - Passive and Active Resonses, Channels
This week we'll be discussing channels and the remarkable experimental findings on how membranes allow ions to pass through specialized pores in the membrane wall.The learning objectives for this week are:
- Describe the passive as compared to act...
- Week 4 - Hodgkin-Huxley Membrane Models
This week we will examine the Hodgkin-Huxley model, the Nobel-prize winning set of ideas describing how membranes generate action potentials by sequentially allowing ions of sodium and potassium to flow.The learning objectives for this week are:
- ...
- Week 5 - Axial and Membrane Current in the Core-Conductor Model
This week we will examine axial and transmembrane currents within and around the tissue structure: including how these currents are determined by transmembrane voltages from site to site within the tissue, at each moment.The learning objectives for this we...
- Week 6 - Propagation
this week we will examine how action potentials in one region normally produce action potentials in adjacent regions, so that there is a sequence of action potentials, an excitation wave. the learning objectives for this week are:- Identify the diff...
- Week 7 - Course Conclusion and Final Exam
In Week 7, we will briefly review the course, take a quick look at the next course at the second course in the series and complete the final exam. Good luck and thank you for joining me in the course. rcb.
Instructors
Dr. Roger Barr
Anderson-Rupp Professor of Biomedical Engineering and Associate Professor of Pediatrics
Biomedical Engineering, Pediatrics
Content Designer

Duke University is a private North American research university located in Durham, North Carolina. The university is named after the Duke dynasty.
Although the university was not officially founded until 1924 (its roots go back to 1838). Frequently referred to as the "Harvard of the South", Duke is the most selective university in the American South.
The university is a member of the Association of American Universities, an association which, since 1900, has brought together the elite research universities of North America.
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Coursera is a digital company offering massive open online course founded by computer teachers Andrew Ng and Daphne Koller Stanford University, located in Mountain View, California.
Coursera works with top universities and organizations to make some of their courses available online, and offers courses in many subjects, including: physics, engineering, humanities, medicine, biology, social sciences, mathematics, business, computer science, digital marketing, data science, and other subjects.
Very clear expectations, and the lectures were spaced out nicely to cover material while not being overwhelming. Additionally, the analogies used to convey the principles were clever and helpful!


I think it is a good course for beginners. However, It would be better if one could get more help if s/he gets more help from the discussion forum. The discussion forum is futile. More or less it is a good place to start.

Very clear expectations, and the lectures were spaced out nicely to cover material while not being overwhelming. Additionally, the analogies used to convey the principles were clever and helpful!