PSYC 456

FUNCTIONAL NEUROANATOMY (3 credits)

    • Prerequisite: PSYC 310, 315, 355. This course focuses on the structural and functional anatomy of brain systems underlying important cognitive functions such as motor behaviour, sensory perception, learning, and memory. Emphasis is on how comparative anatomy and different experimental techniques contribute to the understanding of brain function. Through discussion of the results of anatomical, physiological, and neuroimaging studies, students develop an in-depth knowledge of the structure and function of the human brain
    • This is a Tier 2 course in the “Behavioral Neuroscience” option

If you are lucky, you will have Dr. Virginia Penhune for this course, like I did. (She’s also the Chair of the department)

Here is a link to her lab page and her explore page. Her area of research is on motor learning and neural plasticity.

(I found that this course had a lot of overlap with PSYC 445 – Human Neuropsycholgy)

(being updated…)

Here is a copy of the course outline

Lectures:

  • The most notable characteristic about Dr Penhune’s lecture style is her ease of walking around the room. It gives a nice sense of intimacy to the class, as if you are all personally involved, being spoken to directly. She speaks eloquently and ardently. The level and quality of this course is equivalent to that of medical school.

“Always wear a helmet when you bike!” – Dr. Penhune

Paper:

  • There is usually one paper in this course.
  • With Dr. Penhune, four research articles will be posted on Moodle. You can choose one of the four and write a review on it. It is usually just 5 pages long. Most of the review is talking about the goals, hypothesis, results, etc of the paper.
    • Here is an example paper outline

Exams/Grading:

  • Dr. Penhune takes the time to put together a “Do’s & Don’ts” paper to help you best manage your study time. She’ll tell you which pages in the textbook to focus on and which not to.
  • Her exams are mostly multiple choice questions with a short essay

 

Image result for neuroanatomy cartoon

Additional Resources: