Psychology 3224A-001

Neuropsychology and Cognitive Neuroscience

If there is a discrepancy between the outline posted below and the outline posted on the OWL course website, the latter shall prevail.

1.0    CALENDAR DESCRIPTION

Neural mechanisms in human perception, spatial orientation, memory, language, and motor behaviour.

Prerequisites: Psychology 2820E, or both Psychology 2800E and 2810, and one of Psychology 2220A/B, 2221A/B or Neuroscience 2000

Unless you have either the prerequisites for this course or written special permission from your Dean to enrol in it, you may be removed from this course and it will be deleted from your record. This decision may not be appealed. You will receive no adjustment to your fees in the event that you are dropped from a course for failing to have the necessary prerequisites.

Antirequisite: Psychology 3227A/B

Antirequisites are courses that overlap sufficiently in content that only one can be taken for credit. So if you take a course that is an antirequisite to a course previously taken, you will lose credit for the earlier course, regardless of the grade achieved in the most recent course.

3 lecture/discussion hours, 0.5 course 

2.0    COURSE INFORMATION

Instructor:  Dr. Laura Batterink                                       

Office: Western Interdisciplinary Science Building 6124

Phone Number: 519.661.2111, ext. 85409            

Office Hours: By appointment                             

Email:  lbatter@uwo.ca                                                             

 

Teaching Assistant:  Justin Hopper

Office:  Western Interdisciplinary Science Building, hotelling office                     

Office Hours:    By appointment                          

Email: jhopper7@uwo.ca                                                          

 

Time and Location of Classes:   Tuesday, 1:30 – 4:30 PM

Western Interdisciplinary Research Building (WIRB) 1130

                                                                                   

Students who are in emotional/mental distress should refer to Mental Health@Western

http://www.uwo.ca/uwocom/mentalhealth/ for a complete list of options about how to obtain help.

Please contact the course instructor if you require material in an alternate format or if you require any other arrangements to make this course more accessible to you. You may also wish to contact Student Accessibility Services (formerly known as Services for Students with Disabilities) at 519-661-2147.

3.0  TEXTBOOK

Required: Michael Gazzaniga, Richard Ivry, & George Mangun. (2018).  Cognitive Neuroscience: The Biology of the Mind, Fifth Edition. Norton Publishing.

 

On most weeks, additional readings will be required and they will be posted on OWL in PDF format (see Lecture Schedule).

A copy of the course textbook will be available for short-term 2-hour loan at Weldon Library. 

4.0    COURSE OBJECTIVES

  1. To familiarize students with the human mind as a phenomenon whose biological basis can be studied in scientific research; to explore and appreciate the limits of current scientific knowledge in the field.
  2. To provide a comprehensive overview of the methodology, research findings, theories, and contentious issues in the study of cognitive neuroscience.
  3. To encourage the reading of primary source material on research in cognitive neuroscience; to encourage critical thinking and discussion of contentious issues.
Any course of this sort contains material that must be learned from both lectures and readings. Some material from the text will not be covered in lectures; similarly, some material from the lectures will not be covered in the readings. Therefore, it is necessary that students attend classes and do the readings regularly for successful completion of the course.

   4.1    STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES 

Explain major concepts, theoretical perspectives, empirical findings, and historical trends in neuropsychology and cognitive neuroscience (assessed via quizzes and exams).

 

Describe the basic anatomical/functional systems of the human brain, including sensory, motor, language, executive function, memory systems (assessed via quizzes and exams).

 

Define key concepts that characterize cognitive neuroscience as a field of scientific inquiry (assessed via quizzes and exams).

 

Apply basic research methods in psychology to investigate cognitive neuroscientific questions. Identify relevant neuropsychological mechanisms/issues and apply to real-world contexts.  (assessed via quizzes, exams, review paper, in-class/group assignments).

 

Critically analyze published research, including methodology, results and conclusions in the field of cognitive neuroscience/neuropsychology (assessed via review paper, in-class/group assignments).

 

Articulate some of the central questions and issues in contemporary neuropsychology/cognitive neuroscience (assessed via quizzes, exams, review paper, in-class/group assignments).

 

Clearly communicate cognitive neuroscientific material and principles to a scientifically literate audience (assessed via in-class/group assignments, data blitz presentation). 

5.0     EVALUATION

Course performance will be evaluated based on the following sources:

  1. Quiz 1 - 15%                                         
  2. Quiz 2 – 17.5%
  3. Mini Review – 20%
  4. Final Exam – 35%
  5. Evidence of Preparation and Participation in Class Activities/Group Work- 10%
  6. Data Blitz Presentation – 5%

 

 

All students should be familiar with the basic neuroanatomy of the central nervous system upon entering the course. However, the lectures will review basic terminology and major features of the brain and associated tissues.

Further notes on grades: Note that tests measure achievement, not aptitude. Your grade will not be based on how well you think you know the material but how well you performed on the test.  Your grade will NOT be adjusted based on arguments about the grade you “need.” Period. Leave a “margin of error.” If you “need” a certain grade to graduate or to apply to a particular program, you should ensure you do well enough that your desired grade will not depend on one exam question.  Deal with problems early, not at the end of the semester. If your grade is much lower than you hoped, talk to me or the TA as soon as the problem is apparent. There’s nothing I can do at the end of the term to help you.

 

Quizzes and Exam

The quizzes and final exam will cover materials from lectures (including videos) as well as all readings, including journal articles. Both quizzes and the exam will include multiple choice questions, short-to-medium answer questions ((e.g., fill-in-the-blanks, definitions, or questions that require a short- to medium- length written response), and/or label-the-diagram questions. Quizzes will not be cumulative. The final exam will be cumulative but weighted more heavily with material covered since Quiz 2.

 

Mini Review

A written mini-review is due November 29 by midnight. The mini-review should take the form of a written scholarly essay of ~1200-1400 words (not counting references), which critically analyzes and discusses a topic of current controversy within cognitive neuroscience, or that summarizes and discusses an exciting development in the context of the existing literature. A selection of appropriate topics will be provided, but students may also design their own topic (with the prior agreement of the course instructor).   Further instructions will be posted on OWL. You will be required to independently research your topic and synthesize the material into a scholarly critique, citing references to support your arguments. Your mini- review should be submitted electronically to OWL. Turnitin will be used to check for plagiarism. A late penalty of 10% of the assignment’s value per day (2 of the 20-point total value) will be applied to papers submitted after the deadline.

 

Data Blitz Presentations

Also known as “lightning talks,” a datablitz is a series of exciting, fast-paced, very short presentations.  Our final class period will consist of a datablitz event, which will provide an opportunity for you to share something interesting learned over the course of researching and writing your mini-review.  You can focus on a single exciting finding or else provide a very brief summary of your topic.  Your presentation should be no longer than 3 minutes long and contain only a single slide (emailed to the TA prior to class), with an additional 1 minute for questions. 

 

Course Readings

Course readings not included in the main textbook will be available to students via coursereadings.lib.uwo.ca., as well as on the Course Readings “plugin tool” on the OWL course site.

 

Piazza for Course-Related Communication

If you have a course-related question (e.g., question on material, clarification of assignments, etc.), I encourage you to use Piazza, which can be found on the left side tab menu as an external web resource, or at the following url: piazza.com/uwo.ca/fall2019/psych3224a

 

Piazza is an online platform that facilitates communication among students and instructors. Its main purpose is as a question and answer discussion board that facilitates collaborative solutions.  If you have a question, you may get an answer more quickly on Piazza compared to email, since both the instructor, TA and other students can see and respond to your question. When students post on Piazza, everyone benefits. Students like knowing that others have the same question, and when it's answered on Piazza, it's answered for everybody.  You can pose questions or respond to questions from other students anonymously or under your own name.

 

Email Policy: I will try to respond to your email within 2 business days (Monday – Friday, 9 AM – 5 PM). If you haven’t heard from me within 2 days, please feel free to send another message. Please include the course reference number in the subject line (Psych 3224).

 

Group Work/In-Class Participation

 

Most weeks will involve in-class group work, as specified in the Class Schedule Below. Depending on the week, a scientific journal article may be assigned in addition to reading from the textbook.  Students are expected to come to class prepared for the in-class group work by carefully reading the article prior to class. Additional details for each week will be provided on OWL.

 

The grade for this component of the course will be assessed by the following: worksheets to be turned in to the TA (completed either prior to class or during class, depending on the week), and in-class participation. For this component, your lowest weekly grade will be dropped from your overall grade.  No other make-up opportunities will be provided (no exceptions). 

Although the Psychology Department does not require instructors to adjust their course grades to conform to specific targets, the expectation is that course marks will be distributed around the following averages:

70%     1000-level and 2000-level courses
72%     2190-2990 level courses
75%     3000-level courses
80%     4000-level courses
   
The Psychology Department follows Western's grading guidelines, which are as follows (see http://www.uwo.ca/univsec/pdf/academic_policies/general/grades_undergrad.pdf):

A+  90-100      One could scarcely expect better from a student at this level
A    80-89        Superior work that is clearly above average
B    70-79        Good work, meeting all requirements, and eminently satisfactory
C    60-69        Competent work, meeting requirements
D    50-59        Fair work, minimally acceptable
F    below 50    Fail


6.0  ASSESSMENT/EVALUATION SCHEDULE

       Quiz 1                                                          October 1      

       Quiz 2                                                          October 29     

       Mini-Review                                                  November 29

       Data Blitz Presentations                                November 29, December 3     

            Final Exam                    TBA – scheduled by Office of the Registrar (December 8-19) 

7.0   CLASS SCHEDULE

PowerPoint Notes will be posted on OWL, either before or after each day's lecture.  Textbook readings refer to the course textbook, Cognitive Neuroscience (5th ed.).  Additional required readings not found in the course textbook and journal articles will be posted on the OWL website.

 

Week

Date

Topic

Readings to Complete Prior to Class

# of

textbook

pages

In-Class Group Work

1

Sept 10

Course Introduction

Review of brain anatomy

Chapter 2: Sections 2.1 – 2.6 (pp. 23-63)

40

Escape (the Class)Room Neuroanatomy Game

 

2

Sept 17

Methods of Understanding the Brain

Chapter 3:

Section 3.2-3.9 (pp. 79-121)

42

Methods Worksheet + Research Scenarios Activity

3

Sept 24

Neuroplasticity and Critical Period Effects

Chapter 5.9 (pp. 210-219)

 

Fundamentals of Human Neuropsychology, 7th edition (Kolb) Chapter 23.5-23.7 (pp. 651-665)

Posted on OWL

 

Read one of the following 3 articles (as individually assigned). Fill out Journal Club worksheet and bring to class:

Articles posted on OWL.

 

Bedny et al., 2011, Proceedings of the National Academy of Science

 

Gaetz et al., 2018, Annals of Clinical and Translational Neurology

Bavelier et al., 2000, The Journal of Neuroscience

 

23

Modified Jigsaw + Class Discussion

4

Oct 1

In Class Quiz 1

 

 

 

5

Oct 8

Object recognition

Chapter6, Section 6.1-6.3 (pp. 223-248), 6.5 (259-261, 265-271)


Read one of the following articles (as individually assigned).

 

Sahraie et al., 2010, Proceedings of the National Academy of Science

 

Persaud et al., 2011, NeuroImage

 

Heywood et al., 1987, Journal of Neurology

 

Zeki et al., 1999,  Proceedings of the National Academy of Science

 

Schenk et al., 2000, European Journal of Neuroscience

 

Servos et al., 1993, Neuropsychologia

 

Jakobson et al., 1991, Neuropsychologia

 

Riddoch et al., 2008, Cognitive Neuropsychology

 

33

Present a Patient:

Clinical Case Presentations

 

6

Oct 15

Attention

Chapter 7.1-7.5 (pp. 275-316)

41

In Class Team Competition

 

*Note: Lecture notes and textbook are allowed to be used as resources, so you may wish to bring your textbook to class this day

7

Oct 22

Long-term Memory

Amnesia and Memory Disorders

Chapter 9.1 – 9.5 (pp.380-413)

 

Read one of these two articles (as individually assigned). Complete worksheet on the article prior to class. Articles and worksheet posted on OWL.

 

Hannula & Ranganath, 2009, Neuron

 

Urgolites et al., 2018, Proceedings of the National Academy of Science

 

 

 

33

Class Debate: The role of the hippocampus in implicit memory

8

Oct 29

Quiz 2

 

 

 

 

Nov 5

Reading Week

No Class

 

 

 

9

Nov 12

Language acquisition and language processing; aphasia

 

 

Kuhl, 2010, Neuron, Brain Mechanisms in Early Language Acquisition

posted on OWL)

 

Chapter 11.1 – 11.2) (pp. 476-488)

 

Read one of these two articles (as assigned individually). Be prepared to explain your article to your classmates.

 

Chang et al., 2010, Nature Neuroscience

 

Levy & Wilson, 2019, Cerebral Cortex

 

12

Modified Jigsaw + Class Discussion

10

Nov 19

Sleep, Dreaming, Memory Consolidation

No readings from course textbook.

 

Fundamentals of cognitive neuroscience, 2nd ed (Gage & Baars), Chapter 12 -- Sleep and levels of consciousness (posted on OWL)

 

Read both of these articles (second is only a single page):

 

Fuentemilla et al., 2013, Current Biology

 

Rudoy et al, 2009, Science

 

Journal Club

 

11

Nov 26

Consciousness

 

Mini Review Due Friday This Week – Nov 29

 

 

Chapter 14 (pp. 618-655)

37

15 Data Blitz presentations

12

Dec 3

Remaining Data Blitz Presentations

 

No assigned readings

 

 

 

TBA

Final Exam

 

 

 

8.0     STATEMENT ON ACADEMIC OFFENCES

Students are responsible for understanding the nature and avoiding the occurrence of plagiarism and other scholastic offenses. Plagiarism and cheating are considered very serious offenses because they undermine the integrity of research and education. Actions constituting a scholastic offense are described at the following link:  http://www.uwo.ca/univsec/pdf/academic_policies/appeals/scholastic_discipline_undergrad.pdf

As of Sept. 1, 2009, the Department of Psychology will take the following steps to detect scholastic offenses. All multiple-choice tests and exams will be checked for similarities in the pattern of responses using reliable software, and records will be made of student seating locations in all tests and exams. All written assignments will be submitted to TurnItIn, a service designed to detect and deter plagiarism by comparing written material to over 5 billion pages of content located on the Internet or in TurnItIn’s databases. All papers submitted for such checking will be included as source documents in the reference database for the purpose of detecting plagiarism of papers subsequently submitted to the system. Use of the service is subject to the licensing agreement, currently between Western and Turnitin.com http://www.turnitin.com

Computer-marked multiple-choice tests and/or exams may be subject to submission for similarity review by software that will check for unusual coincidences in answer patterns that may indicate cheating.

 

A portion of your grade in this class involves the use of a personal response system (PRS). Data collected using the PRS will only be used in a manner consistent to that described in this outline. It is the instructor’s responsibility to make every effort to ensure that data remain confidential. However, students should be aware that as with all forms of electronic communication, privacy is not guaranteed. Your PRS login credentials are for your sole use only. Students attempting to use another student’s credentials to submit data through the PRS may be subject to academic misconduct proceedings.

Possible penalties for a scholastic offense include failure of the assignment, failure of the course, suspension from the University, and expulsion from the University.



9.0    POLICY ON ACCOMMODATION FOR MEDICAL ILLNESS

Western’s policy on Accommodation for Medical Illness can be found at:
http://www.westerncalendar.uwo.ca/PolicyPages.cfm?PolicyCategoryID=1&Command=showCategory&SelectedCalendar=Live&ArchiveID=#Page_12

 

The full policy for consideration for absences can be accessed at: https://www.uwo.ca/univsec/pdf/academic_policies/appeals/Academic_Consideration_for_absences.pdf


Students must see the Academic Counsellor and submit all required documentation in order to be approved for certain accommodation:
http://counselling.ssc.uwo.ca/procedures/medical_accommodation.html

 

If you experience an extenuating circumstance (e.g., illness, injury) sufficiently significant to temporarily make you unable to meet academic requirements, you may request accommodation through the following routes:

  1. Submitting a Self-Reported Absence form (for circumstances that are expected to resolve within 48 hours);
  2. For medical absences, submitting a Student Medical Certificate (SMC) signed by a licensed medical or mental health practitioner in order to be eligible for Academic Consideration;

For non-medical absences, submitting appropriate documentation (e.g., obituary, police report, accident report, court order, etc.) to Academic Counselling in their Faculty of registration in order to be eligible for academic consideration. Students are encouraged to contact their Academic Counselling unit to clarify what documentation is appropriate.

Students must see the Academic Counsellor and submit all required documentation in order to be approved for certain accommodation. The self-reported absence form may NOT be used for absences longer than 48 hours; coursework/tests/exams/etc., worth more than 30% of the final grade; or exams scheduled in the December or April final-exam periods: http://counselling.ssc.uwo.ca/procedures/medical_accommodation.html

Students seeking academic consideration:

  • are advised to consider carefully the implications of postponing tests or midterm exams or delaying handing in work;  
  • are encouraged to make appropriate decisions based on their specific circumstances, recognizing that minor ailments (upset stomach) or upsets (argument with a friend) are not normally an appropriate basis for a self-reported absence;

must communicate with their instructors no later than 24 hours after the end of the period covered by either the self-reported absence or SMC, or immediately upon their return following a documented absence



10.0        OTHER INFORMATION

Office of the Registrar web site:  http://registrar.uwo.ca

Student Development Services web site: http://www.sdc.uwo.ca

Please see the Psychology Undergraduate web site for information on the following:

    http://psychology.uwo.ca/undergraduate/student_responsibilities/index.html

- Policy on Cheating and Academic Misconduct
- Procedures for Appealing Academic Evaluations
- Policy on Attendance
- Policy Regarding Makeup Exams and Extensions of Deadlines
- Policy for Assignments
- Short Absences
- Extended Absences
- Documentation
- Academic Concerns
- 2019-2020 Calendar References

No electronic devices, including cell phones and smart watches, will be allowed during exams.

Copyright Statement: Lectures and course materials, including power point presentations, outlines, and similar materials, are protected by copyright. You may take notes and make copies of course materials for your own educational use. You may not record lectures, reproduce (or allow others to reproduce), post or distribute lecture notes, wiki material, and other course materials publicly and/or for commercial purposes without the instructor’s written consent.