Foundations of behavioural neuroscience (6 points)
(MED)
Leader: Dr Dianne Sheppard
Offered:
Clayton Second semester 2004 (Day)
Clayton Second semester 2005 (Day)
Synopsis:
Objectives: On successful completion of this unit, students will: 1. Have a good understanding of how our genes interact with the environment to affect the structure and function of the brain and/or our biochemical systems, and in turn, human behaviour. 2. Be familiar with modes of inheritance, gene mutations and abnormalities. 3. Be familiar with the details of several heritable disorders (eg. Fragile 'X' syndrome, Wilson's disease, Down's syndrome, Duchenne muscular dystrophy, etc) that affect certain aspects of behaviour through neuropharmacological, histological, biochemical and other neurological alterations. 4. Have had the opportunity to develop their group-work and oral presentation skills. 5. Have acquired new skills (eg. locating and extracting relevant and valid information from databases via the web; writing up a basic clinical case history) that will be useful throughout their undergraduate and postgraduate careers. 6. Understand and be able to build on important concepts underlying neuroimaging procedures (including the principles of electromagnetism, simple nuclear physics, etc). 7. To be exposed to the ethical issues surrounding the use of gene therapy as a treatment for disease.
Assessment: Discussion topic written/oral assignment 20% and associated quizzes 5% (total 25%); Clinical Case History 12.5%; The web as a resource exercise 10%; WebCT Neuroimaging Quiz 12.5%; MCQ Exam 40%
Contact Hours: 4 contact hours + 8 additional hours per week
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