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This course is meant to be an introduction to our nervous system and its relationship to the many psychological functions. Therefore, this course is designed to discuss many topics, but all very briefly. It moves quickly and you will learn a lot, so try not to fall behind. After this course, you should have a basic understanding of how the brain mediates some psychological phenomena at a neuronal and systems level. You probably will not learn all there is to know about how dreaming or hallucinations occur, but you will have enough knowledge to take more courses in biopsychology and be able to look up stuff on your own. So enjoy. Below are links to help you with this course. In addition to the standard links to your syllabus and homework assignments, there is also a short description for each topic that will be covered. Pay attention to this short description in that it includes what I think is the main message I hope you will understand. Within each topic, there also are links to lecture handouts to help you follow along with lecture. These are informal notes of my lectures, which I post in order to help you keep track of my lectures. Many past students have liked them, finding it helpful to print them out and bring them to class. They do not contain everything that will be covered in lecture, and may contain information not covered in class, so to know what is important, you still have to come to class. Keep in mind, that this website is always under construction and so changes in handouts or other links may change (not the syllabus or homework assignments though). See you in Class! |
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Homework Assignments 2. Perception (and Extra credit 1) 3. Prosthetics 4. Disorders General Extra Credit throughout term: find any helpful neuroscience website that does a better job than the text, and get 1 pt (max 10pts). |
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Course Topics and Handouts 1. Introduction: (Skim Chapter 1) My goals for this topic are to simply get you to start thinking like a neuroscientist. The chapter gives good background about the history of brain science, and its relationship to evolution/genetics. In lecture, I will describe how to think about the nervous system before we dive into the details. We will use this lecture to give rise to a general idea about the function of the nervous system, and to expectations about how the basic mechanisms of this system function. Lecture note handout: Introduction (PDF Version) 2. The Neuron as Computer: (Chapter 2, 4 and pgs 337-348) My goal for this topic is to explain the function of the different cells that constitute the nervous system, with special attention to the neuron. I hope that you learn how the neuron acts as a computational device, and this ability enables the entire nervous system to learn, attend, remember, think, hope and feel. Collections of neurons are able to mediate these processes because of two properties: First, neurons are able to move information, conditionally, to specific cellular targets (communication from a specific neuron is NOT broadcasted to all other cells), and Second, the strength, weight or importance of any input to a cell can be made stronger or weaker relatively easily to adjust the computation made by the recieving neuron. Lecture note handout: The Cells of the Nervous system (PDF Version) and Pharmacology (PDF Version) Helpful Links: How Cells of Nervous System Work; Brain U; Basics Of Cells; Basics of Neurons (w/text); Synaptic Rap Video (Funny). 3. General Anatomy: (Chapter 3) My goal for this topic is to help you understand the basic anatomical structure of the nervous system, as well as the basic terminology that we use to talk about the anatomy. My basic approach is to you understand that the central nervous system is simply one long tube. Lecture note handout: Anatomy PowerPoint: Sheep Brain Dissection Anatomy Diagram: JPG format or PDF format Helpful Video: Can you find the error? (Click here) 4. Methods in Neuroscience: (Skim Chapter 5) My goal for assigning this chapter is to help you understand the basic methods/techniques we use to understand the function of neurons and neural systems. This chapter goes into great detail that I do not expect you to learn/memorize (thus just skim the chapter). In a 10 week course, there is not enough time to address all of the techniques, and I will not be testing you on them (unless I lecture!). Consider this chapter to be a reference if you come across about a technique that you would like to know more about. Lecture note handout: Methods 5. Sensation and Perception: (Chapter 6 and pages 194-200) My goal for this topic is to help you understand the similarity in how perceptual systems are structured and function to enable us to have conscious perceptions. I hope that you understand that perception is mediated by a collection of different/separate brain areas (thus we use the term “system”) which work together to enable the specific function. Within each perceptual system, I hope that you understand First, that different attributes are processed by different brain areas and Second, information is processed in both a serial and parallel manner. Lecture note handout: Perception 6. Output systems: (Lecture and page 83) My goal with this topic is to delineate how information created in the brain (e.g. thoughts and emotions) can influence our bodies in terms of behavior, as well as the function of organs and glands. Note: in the “concise” edition of Carlson’s text, this chapter is missing. You should not miss this series of lectures. I will focus most of the discussion on the voluntary motor system, and hope to show how similar it is to sensory systems. Also, I will introduce the concept of “Goal Directed Systems”. My personal view is that the nervous system is best understood as consisting of multiple “Goal Directed Systems” which compete for control of your body. Lecture note handout: Motor Systems Video: Mirror Neurons (with update) 7. Motivation: (Chapter 9) My goal for this topic is to use sexuality as an example of a motivational system. I hope that you will understand this system as a “Goal Directed System” that can function independently from our “voluntary system”. I also hope that you see how the brain and the body talk to and influence each other to satisfy our somatic and visceral needs (i.e. communication is bi-directional). Lecture note handout: Neuroscience of Sexuality Sex Overheads: Hormone Cycle 8. Memory: (Pages 349-76, Chapter 10, pages 483-90) Between the neural systems involved in “figuring out what is out there”, and those involved in “figuring out how to engage a particular behavior” is everything else. Most of “everything else” is involved in memory; the storage of information gleaned through daily events in order to engage in more successful behavior in the future. I hope that you will learn that there is not a singular “memory”, but there are multiple memory systems each of which store a specific kind of information and are mediated by a separate anatomical system. Lecture note handout: Memory and Emotions PowerPoint: Emotion Video: Memory (HM and the Aplysia) 9. Cognition and Though: (Lecture and Pages 378-96) The neural systems involved in cognition, especially thought, are poorly understood. Recently, though, there has been some interesting and insightful research which directly relates to Thought. I hope to have time to speculate about where Thought may be in the Brain. Lecture note handout: Cognition and Thought. Video: Split Brain Video (Alan Alda): (See also here) 10. Sleep: (Chapter 8) One third of our lives are spent in an immobile, unconscious state. My goal for this topic is to delineate the neural systems which control our levels of consciousness, and speculate about what the function of sleep is. Of central importance is the Ascending Reticular Activating System (a.k.a. the Central Projection Systems). Lecture note handout: Sleep Video: What Good is Sleep? (see also here) 11. Disorders: (Chapter 15) My goal for this topic is to describe what we know about changes in neural activity in relationship to the development of a psychological disorder. I hope that you will understand the difficulty in understanding a disorder due to the problems with Animal Models, and that most disorders are due to the dysfunction of the Ascending Reticular Activating System. Lecture note handout: Disorders |
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Study Guide Questions |
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Interesting Links Neuro-Blogs and other Great Resources Neuroscience for Kids (of all ages!) Anatomy Links and other Resources Brain Facts (A short primer from SFN) Serendip (Interesting Brain site: Course, Links, and Info) Brainy Acts (Collection of neuroscience videos from web) Neuroscience Links (Huge collection) |
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“As she continued to step slowly forward, at last she realized what the Thing on the dais was. IT was a brain. A disembodied brain. An oversized brain, just enough larger than normal to be completely revolting and terrifying. A living brain. A brain that pulsed and quivered, that seized and commanded. No wonder the brain was called IT. IT was the most horrible, the most repellent thing she had ever seen, far more nauseating than anything she had ever imagined with her conscious mind, or that had ever tormented her in her most terrible nightmares. But as she had felt she was beyond fear, so now she was beyond screaming.” ~Madeleine L’Engle (1962) |