Undergraduate Course 4451F
Integrative Neuroscience
Course number: ACB 4451F, Section 650, Fall 2012
Course title: Integrative Neuroscience - Online
Course Director: Dr. Susanne Schmid
Office:MSB 470, Medical Sciences Building
Phone: (519) 661-2111, ext. 82668
Email: Susanne.schmid@schulich.uwo.ca
Prerequisite: Physiol. 3120, or 3140 (can be waived by course co-ordinator)
Course description:
The course will contain the lectures of the regular ACB 4451F course that can be attended online through the live WIMBA classroom, or watched offline from the archive. Labs are done online or offline and submission of assignments will be through Sakai.
This course will examine brain functions underlying specific fundamental behavioural tasks. Topics include learning and memory, reward and addiction, neurodevelopment and regeneration, control of movement, cognitive function and aging, and mental disorders. The course emphasizes the integrative understanding of the connection between molecular/cellular processes and behaviour.
Apart from the neurobiological content the course will encourage active participation and focuses on developing skills. Students will be exposed to labs, reading original research articles, and scientific writing.
The first part of the course will briefly repeat some basics of neuroscience and will focus on consolidation of this knowledge by applying it in the online labs. The lectures will be interactive and have the goal to bring all students to a similar high level of understanding the cellular principles underlying neuronal function. The labs will focus on specific skills, such as designing and documenting an experiment, writing a protocol, using a brain atlas in order to identify brain structures, critically reading scientific papers, working in a team, etc. There will be a number of marked assignments during this first half of the course that replace a midterm exam. Please be aware of the different deadlines for submission of assignments (see below).
The second part of the course will focus on different systems and the brain structures and mechanisms involved in these systems. Occasionally, specialists that do research here at UWO within the specific topics will give a guest lecture. This will provide a glimpse of the neuroscience research that is going on here at Western.
Time of Live Classrooms: Mon and Wed, 10.30 -11.30
Participation in live classrooms is not mandatory, all lectures will be archived and can be revisited any time.
Books and Notes:
Course materials and textbook suggestions will be discussed during the first lecture. Lab materials and manuals will be provided before labs or made available through Sakai.
Evaluation:
| Anatomy lab | Sept. 19 | 10% |
| Histology lab | Sept. 24 | 10% |
| Neurophysiology lab | Oct. 01 | 10% |
| Experiment design | Oct. 17 | 10% |
| Experiment protocol | Oct. 29 | 10% |
| Written paper critique | Nov. 19 | 20% |
| Final exam | TBA (Dec. 14-17) | 30% |
It is not mandatory to attend the live Wimba classroom, but it is strongly recommended. Students are encouraged to log into the online platform at least 1-3 times per week and to post questions and comments on the discussion board. The course coordinator and teaching assistants will monitor online discussions on a daily basis. Labs should need to be accomplished in the week indicated on the timetable. Please adhere to the deadlines for emailing lab assignments. Late submission will result in a 0% mark, unless course coordinator has been notified and permitted late submission before the deadline has passed.
Some assignments can be accomplished as group work (online or by meeting group members). Group work means that the product is generated through the intense interaction of two or three students. It is not acceptable that one student only revises the product of another student or that differernt students contribute different parts that are just put together. In case of a group submission, it is important to indicate all names of group members and the way the group worked together, so that the product is not identified as plagiarism. All group members should still submit the (identical) assignment through their Sakai, so that it is not marked as a missed assignment.
In some weeks it will be necessary to read an article, gather material or prepare a written assignment additionally to the course hours. Additional reading about the course topics in a textbook is strongly encouraged, but it is not required for the final exam.
Course outline Fall 2012 online course
Mon, Sept. 10 |
Introduction, course overview, rules & remarks |
Susanne Schmid |
Mon, Sept. 17 |
Neurons & Glia |
SS |
Mon, Sept. 24 |
Passive properties of the neuronal membrane |
SS |
Mon, Oct. 01 |
Synaptic transmission |
SS |
Mon, Oct. 08 |
Thanksgiving |
SS |
Mon, Oct. 15 |
no class (SFN) |
|
Mon, Oct. 22 unit 1 |
Intro: Synaptic plasticity and learning & memory |
SS |
Mon, Oct. 29 unit 2 |
Intro: Neurodevelopment and Regeneration of Neurons |
SS |
Mon, Nov. 05 unit 3 |
Into: Reward and Addiction |
SS |
Mon, Nov. 12 unit 4 |
Intro. Neuronal basis of movement |
SS |
Mon, Nov. 19 unit 5 |
Intro: Neuronal death and synapse elimination |
SS |
Mon, Nov. 26 unit 6 |
Intro. Cognitive function and aging |
SS |
Mon, Dec. 03 |
Spare time for presentations, discussions |
SS |
SL: Steve Laviolette; AB: Arthur Brown; MP: Marco Prado; NR: Nagalingam Rajakumar; VP: Vania Prado
Support Services:
Registrarial Services: http://www.registrar.uwo.ca
Academic Counselling (Science and Basic Medical Sciences): http://www.uwo.ca/sci/counselling/index.html
USC Student Support Services: http://westernusc.ca/service
Student Development Services: http://www.sdc.uwo.ca
Student Health Services: http://www.shs.uwo.ca/
Students that are in emotional/mental distress should refer to Mental Health@Western http://www.uwo.ca/uwocom/mentalhealth.