Psychology 618
Neuroscience and Behavior 618

 

Behavioral and Cognitive Neuroscience

 

Spring, 2012

email: psych618-kcave@courses.umass.edu

Tuesday & Thursday
9:30 - 10:45 am
307 Tobin Hall 

lab: Thursday
11:00 am-1:00 pm
264 Integrated Sciences Bldg.

Jerrold Meyer

office: 526 Tobin
phone: 5-2168

Office hours:Monday 3:30-4:30 or by appointment

Kyle Cave

office: 432 Tobin
phone: 5-2787

Office hours: Wednesday 2:00-3:00 or by appointment

(This page last updated 1 Mar 2012.)

 

The lab schedule has been updated below. Note the talk by Susan Barry on March 8.

 

This course is an overview of systems neuroscience, with special emphasis on cognition, including perception, recognition, attention, and motor control. It includes both theoretical and lab components covering neuroanatomy, neurohistology, brain imaging, eyetracking, and behavioral analysis.

Readings:

The readings for the new class will be a combination of the textbook Neuroscience, Fourth Edition, by Purves et al. (published by Sinauer), and a collection of journal articles and book chapters. Below are the topics to be covered and the readings to be assigned. A list of the readings outside the textbook is posted after the schedule.

Schedule:

Below is a schedule showing the topic, and readings for each lecture. Be sure that you have completed the readings before class, so that you can understand the material presented during class and can participate in the discussion. If you are confused about any part of the reading, try to formulate questions and e-mail them to us or ask them in class. Chapter numbers are from the Purves et al. textbook unless otherwise noted. The readings outside the textbook are available on Spark.

date

topic

reading

1

Jan 24

introduction

2

Jan 26

Somatosensation

Chap. 9

3

Jan 31

Pain

Chap. 10

4

Feb 2

Vision - Eye and Brain

Chaps. 11 & 12

5

Feb 7

Visual Perception

Palmer Ch. 1

6

Feb 9

Visual Attention I

Chap. 26; Pashler

7

Feb 14

Visual Attention II

Kastner; Serences; Rijpkema

8

Feb 16

Visual Search

Treisman & Gelade; Wolfe, Koch

9

Feb 21

Exam 1

10

Feb 23

Hearing I

Chap. 13

11

Feb 28

Hearing II

Shinn-Cunningham; Pinker

12

Mar 1

Smell and Taste

Chap. 15

13

Mar 6

Lower and Upper Motor

Chaps. 16 & 17

14

Mar 8

Basal Ganglia

Chap. 18

15

Mar 13

Eye Movements

Chap. 20; Pollatsek & Rayner

16

Mar 15

Visceral Motor

Chap. 21

--- Spring Break ---

17

Mar 27

Sleep and Wakefulness

Chap. 28

18

Mar 29

Exam 2

19

Apr 3

Reproductive Behavior

Chap. 30

20

Apr 5

Maternal Behavior

21

Apr 10

Human Memory

22

Apr 12

Neural Mechanisms of Memory and Synaptic Plasticity I

Chap. 31

Apr 17

Monday schedule - no class

23

Apr 19

Neural Mechanisms of Memory and Synaptic Plasticity II

24

Apr 24

Emotions I

Chap. 29

25

Apr 26

Emotions II

26

May 1

wrap up

We may decide to change the schedule as the class progresses.

  

Lab

The course will include a lab section that will meet Thursdays from 11:00 to 1:00, usually in ISB 264. Below is the schedule for the labs.

date

topic

location

Feb 2

sheep brain dissection

ISB 264

Feb 9

-- no lab --

Feb 16

sheep brain dissection

ISB 264

Feb 23

sheep brain dissection

ISB 264

Mar 1

histology

ISB 264

Mar 8

Talk by Susan Barry, 12:00 noon

Tobin 423

Mar 15

histology

ISB 264

Mar 22

-- spring break --

Mar 29

MRI

ISB 264

Apr 5

motor control

to be announced

Apr 12

ERP

Tobin 423

Apr 19

eye movements

Tobin 207

Apr 26

consciousness

Tobin 423

Communicating Outside of Class:

There is a World Wide Web site for this class with this syllabus, class notes, and other materials. The address for the Web site is at the bottom of this syllabus. There is also a Spark site for turning in papers and accessing grades.

The best way to contact us is through e-mail, using the address at the top of this syllabus, or to come by during office hours. You can also phone at the numbers above.

Exams:

Read this carefully. Ask me if there is any part you do not understand.

There will be at least two exams during the semester and a final exam at the end.

The exams will cover both material from class and material from the reading.

Each exam will cover all the material that has been presented up to that point, including material that may have been on previous exams.

Each exam may have both a take-home component and an in-class component.

Assignments:

There may be various assignments throughout the class. They could include your written thoughts and questions about one of the readings or a class discussion, other short written assignments, and perhaps an occasional short quiz. We may encourage you to discuss these assignments with other students (except, of course, the quizzes). However, unless we specifically say otherwise, the work you turn in for the assignments must be entirely your own.

Avoiding Plagiarism:

All students are expected to adhere scrupulously to the University policy concerning academic honesty.  If you fail to follow these rules, you could receive a failing grade for the class and be reported to the Academic Honesty Office. For more information on the University's academic honesty policy, check this web site:

http://www.umass.edu/dean_students/codeofconduct/acadhonesty/

Also, this website from Indiana University provides examples to help you understand how to avoid plagiarism.

Disabilities:

If you need special accommodations because of a documented disability, please bring us the official letter by Feb 8.

Web Resources:

Click here for a list of websites with material on Cognition, Neuroscience, and Cognitive Neurosience.



An updated version of syllabus is available on the World Wide Web at: http://courses.umass.edu/psych618-kcave/


Psych 618 and NSB 618 Jerrold Meyer Kyle Cave Psychology Dept. U. Mass.