PSY493H: Cognitive Neuroscience Fall 2011 Tuesdays 5 8pm, SS 1073

Contact Information
Instructor: Office: Phone number: Email*: TA: Email*: Website: Office hours: Professor Morgan Barense SS 4050 416-978-5429 barense@psych.utoronto.ca Jonathan Erez jonathan.erez@utoronto.ca Blackboard Mondays, 11:30 12:30 pm, before class (by appointment), or after class

*Email must be used ONLY for genuine emergencies (e.g. illness). Short questions regarding course material should be posted on the Blackboard Discussion Board in the forum Questions on Course Content (Under Tools Discussion board). If the question is extensive, please discuss it during office hours, or before, during, or after class. The instructors will not be able to respond to emails regarding course content.

Course Description and Objectives

This course concerns the biological basis of the mind and how mechanisms in the brain shape human existence. The course is a survey of research on how the mind arises from the workings of the brain. For example, how does your brain enable you to vividly remember your first date, recognize a face, or take notes during class? We will investigate how these complex functions are supported by neural processes from the firing of a single neuron to the dynamic interaction of the many millions of neurons comprising the complex circuits that underlie our minds. Prerequisites: The prerequisites for this course are PSY201H1 (or equivalent), PSY260H1/PSY270H1/PSY290H1/HMB200H1/HMB204H1/NRS201H1. All students must have the stated UofT St. George Campus prerequisites or their UTM/UTSC equivalents. Visiting students from other universities should have the equivalent prerequisites from their home institutions. Waivers will not be considered at any time and students will be removed from the course if proof of possessing the prerequisites is not presented.

Required Reading
Banich, M. T., & Compton, R. J. (2011). Cognitive Neuroscience (3rd ed.): Wadsworth.

Course Requirements
Two Exams (70% of overall grade): Although the emphasis will be on material covered during lectures, the exams may contain any material from the class lectures and textbook. As the lectures will always cover some information not contained in the texts (and vice versa), it is important that you both attend the lectures and do the readings. The exams are non-cumulative but integrative. That is, the questions are grounded in the material covered in the preceding four lectures. However, some questions will require the integration of material covered across the course, so dont forget what youve learned!

Two Thought Papers (30% of overall grade): The thought papers are designed to improve your ability to critically evaluate empirical research. There are two thought papers, each covering a different topic, as described below. Thought Paper 1: The first thought paper should pertain to a topic of your choosing from Chapters 7 or 8 (Object Recognition or Spatial Processing). Thought Paper 2: Neurological disorders can provide invaluable insight into normal brain functioning. Thus, the second thought paper should pertain to one of the neurological disorders described in the lecture on Psychopathology and Cognitive Disorders (Chapters 14, 16) or in Chapter 15 (p. 440 464). The format for this paper is the same as for the first, but you should make it clear how the disorder links to specific aspects of one of the mental functions we have discussed earlier in the course (e.g., emotion, attention, motor control). You should focus on a recently published article (experimental reports published in the last two years, NOT reviews or books). The primary article MUST be from the following journals: Brain, Cerebral Cortex, Current Biology, Experimental Brain Research, Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, Journal of Neuroscience, Journal of Neurophysiology, Nature, Nature Neuroscience, Neurology, Neuropsychologia, Neuron, Psychological Science, or Science. You should choose one article as the focus of your paper, but you should cite a minimum of 2 additional articles to back up any claims you make. These supporting articles may be from journals other than those described above and are not limited to the past 2 years. The thought papers should include: 1. A summary of the primary article and how it relates to assigned topic. This should include a brief and concise description of the article. When describing a study, you should focus its rationale and aims, methods, results and a discussion of the conclusions. No more than one half to one full page is recommended. 2. A commentary or critique of the article should express your thoughts on the topic, not just a regurgitation of a given studys findings. This section is more open-ended and may involve relating the findings to other research articles or a real life situation (and discussion of the scientific implications for the real world), describing what you found particularly interesting about the topic, stating whether you were convinced by the results, describing any limitations of the studies, or suggesting ideas for future research. It does not have to be a negative commentary: you may discuss strengths and/or weaknesses of the study. The evaluation of this section of the thought paper will be based on your understanding of the issues covered in the article, your ability to articulate your thoughts on the article, your ability to synthesize the findings with other information, and the depth in which you evaluate the article. Formatting requirements: Your papers should be approximately 1000 words (~ 3.5 doublespaced pages, 4 pages MAX). Please use 12-point font, double spacing, and 1 inch margins. Include a minimum of 3 references. All references should be listed using APA-style. The thought paper is due at the beginning of class, in class, on the day it is due. Only typed hard copies will be accepted.

**To save paper, please print your assignments double-sided.**

Grading Breakdown
Term tests: Thought papers: Test 1 (35%), Test 2 (35%) Thought paper 1 (15%), Thought paper 2 (15%)

Tentative schedule
Date September 13 September 20 September 27 October 4 October 11 October 18 October 25 November 1 November 8 November 15 November 22 November 29 December 6 Topic Welcome and Overview; Cells and Circuits Functional Anatomy of Cognition; Methods in Cognitive Neuroscience Motor Control; Early Perceptual Processing: Guest lecture by Professor Susanne Ferber Object Recognition and Spatial Processing Term Test 1 Memory First thought paper due in class Hemispheric Specialization and Language Attention and Executive Functions Fall break: No class Emotion and Social Cognition Term Test 2 Psychopathology and Cognitive Disorders Development and Plasticity Second thought paper due in class Chapters 14, 16 Chapter 15 Chapter 13 Chapter 10 Chapters 4, 9 Chapters 11 - 12 Reading Chapter 1 (pp. 1-4); Chapter 2 Chapters 1, 3 Chapters 5 - 6 Chapters 7 - 8

At the latest, lectures slides will be posted on the course website (in the Content section) by midnight at the latest the night before the lecture. Drop date: November 3 (Last day to drop courses from academic record and GPA. After this deadline a mark is recorded for each course, whether course work is completed or not (a 0 is assigned for incomplete work), and calculated into the GPA.) There is nothing scheduled for this class during exam week.

Course Policies
Missed exams: I expect students to make every effort to take required exams. There will be no make-up exams. If you are unable to attend class on the exam day and you have a legitimate excuse, the remaining course material will be re-weighted. Legitimate excuses include a documented family emergency, or a documented severe illness making it impossible to take the exam. If you miss the exam due to severe illness, you must complete the student medical certificate*. Contact me as soon as you are aware of the schedule conflict and before the day of the exam. I must receive all documentation within a week of the exam. Please deliver the forms to the Psychology reception on the 4th floor of Sidney Smith. The Health Certificate is available here: (http://www.healthservice.utoronto.ca/pdfs/medcert.htm). Missed or unexcused exams will be treated as zeros for the given exam. Late assignments: All assignments are due at the beginning of class on the specified due date. Except in the case of a documented emergency (see above), late assignments will be marked down 10% per day. Appropriate documentation is required in all emergency situations.

Unless you have a documented emergency, NO EXTENSIONS WILL BE GIVEN.

FAS Grading guidelines (http://www.writing.utoronto.ca/advice/general/gradingpolicy): A+ Outstanding performance, exceeding even the A described below. A Exceptional performance: strong evidence of original thinking; good organization, capacity to analyze and synthesize; superior grasp of subject matter with sound critical evaluations; evidence of extensive knowledge base. B Good performance: evidence of grasp of subject matter; some evidence of critical capacity and analytic ability; reasonable understanding of relevant issues; evidence of familiarity with the literature. C Intellectually adequate performance: student who is profiting from her or his university experience; understanding of the subject matter and ability to develop solutions to simple problems in the material. D Minimally acceptable performance: some evidence of familiarity with subject matter and some evidence that critical and analytic skills have been developed. F Inadequate performance: little evidence of even superficial understanding of the subject matter; weakness in critical and analytic skills; with limited or irrelevant use of literature. Contesting a grade: All requests for a re-grade must be submitted in writing within two weeks of the first day the exam or assignment is available for student viewing. Only requests that include adequate written justification of an error in the original grading will be considered. A legitimate request will result in the entire exam or assignment being re-graded. Your overall grade may be raised, lowered, or it may stay the same. If there has been an error in our arithmetic, please let us know and we will immediately recalculate your grade (no written request necessary). Arbitrary requests for grade increases will not be entertained (e.g., I need to get into grad school, so could you please change my grade from a B+ to an A-?). Academic dishonesty and plagiarism: Academic integrity will be taken seriously in this course. In accordance with the University of Torontos Code of Behaviour on Academic Matters (http://www.utoronto.ca/academicintegrity/resourcesforstudents.html), the following are serious offences: To use someone elses ideas or words in ones own work without acknowledging in a citation that those ideas/words are not ones own. To include false, misleading or concocted citations in ones work. To obtain unauthorized assistance on any assignment or to provide unauthorized assistance to another student. To use or possess an unauthorized aid in any test or exam. To submit work for credit in more than one course without permission of the instructor. To falsify or alter any documentation required by the University (e.g., doctors notes).