Overview

Description

CALENDAR DESCRIPTION:

Surveys the major areas in biological psychology. Topics include the basics of neuroanatomy and nerve cell function, the behavioral and physiological effects of drugs and hormones in the nervous system, evolutionary perspectives on the brain and behavior, and the biopsychology of vision, the chemical senses, hearing, movement, biological rhythms, sex, and cognitive processes. Breadth-Science.

COURSE DETAILS:

This course is an introduction to the biology of behaviour. The first four lectures will focus on biological foundations, including the anatomy of brain cells, the organization of the nervous system, and the electrical and secretary properties of neurons. The following two lectures will focus on two critical brain functions, the ability to sense internal and external stimuli, and the ability to control muscles and produce observable behaviour. The second part of the course will consider the neural basis of motivation (hunger, thirst, sex, sleep), affect, cognition and psychopathology.

COURSE-LEVEL EDUCATIONAL GOALS:

The course has three main objectives:

1. To provide you with a basic understanding of the structure and function of nervous systems, sufficient to prepare you for upper level courses on specific topics in behavioural neuroscience,

2. To provide you with an overview of the methods by which the neural bases of behaviour can be studied, and

3. To provide you with a snapshot of (a) the current state of understanding of how behaviour emerges from the operations of brain cells,  and (b) what remains to be discovered (much!).

Grading

Materials

REQUIRED READING: