Integrative Neuroscience

Course number: ACB 4451A, Fall 2011
Course title: Integrative Neuroscience

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:
This course will examine brain functions underlying specific fundamental behavioural tasks. Topics include learning and memory, reward and addiction, neurodevelopment and regeneration, neuronal death, cognitive function and aging, and the neuroendocrine system. 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. Students will be exposed to labs, reading original research articles, and presenting neurobiological topics, and writing scholarship applications.
The first part of the course will briefly repeat some basics of neuroscience and will focus on consolidation of this knowledge by applying it during the 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.
This first part will also focus on specific skills, such as designing and documenting an experiment, writing a protocol, using a brain atlas in order to identify brain structures, searching for literature in online databases, working in a team, etc.
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.
The lab hours during the second part of the course will be used for student’s presentations on the topic introduced in class. After and introduction on how to prepare and present, each student will be presenting on a neuroscientific topic. Presentations will be in groups of two students.
Marking will be based on lab exercises and assignments, the presentation, the final exam and the active participation. There is an additional possibility to increase the participation mark through actively contributing to the online discussion forum.
In some weeks it will be necessary to read an article, gather material or prepare a written assignment additionally to the course hours. Furthermore, each student needs to prepare a talk during the second part of the course. Additional reading about the course topics in a textbook is strongly encouraged, but it is not required for the final exam. The final exam will be short answer/essay type questions, no multiple choice.

Time and Location:  Mon and Wed, 11.30 -12.30, DSB 00048
                                  Fri, 10.30-12.30, DSB 00048 (or MSB117)

Participation is mandatory on all three course days.

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 WebCT.

Evaluation:

Course outline (minor changes may still occur)

SL: Steve Laviolette; AB: Arthur Brown; MP: Marco Prado; NR: Nagalingam Rajakumar; VP: Vania Prado