SEMINAR IN PSYCHOBIOLOGY
PSY U656 Course outline
Course Number: PSY U656 Instructor: Professor Jay McLaughlin
Key Number: 51425 Office: 114 Lake Hall
Semester Offered: Fall 2004 Phone: (617) 373-2361
Total Credit Hours: 4 credits E-mail: j.mclaughlin@neu.edu


Office Hours: Monday, Wednesday and Friday, 9:00 ñ 10:00 a.m., or by appointment

Class meets: Tuesdays from 1:35 ñ 5:05 p.m. in 243 Ryder Hall

COURSE GOALS:


COURSE STRUCTURE:
Class will be divided weekly into lectures, review of articles and student presentations.
Lectures will be given in the first 60-90 minutes of each class. These are intended to provide the background necessary to understand and analyze the following weekís articles.
Review of articles will comprise the majority of time spent in class. Each class, students will be randomly selected to present material from the assigned readings and lead discussion of relevant points. Please note that students are responsible for all reading material assigned each week. Review of articles and participation counts significantly towards the final grade.
Each student throughout the course will make one oral presentation of a complete psychobiological research project. Choice of subject material is at the discretion of the presenter, but must be cleared by me no less than two weeks beforehand. Oral presentations are to be performed in the context of a scientific meeting, i.e., a 10 minute presentation followed by up to five minutes of questions and answers. PowerPoint is the preferred presentation medium.

TEXTS: None required. Materials used to develop the PowerPoint lectures for this course come from various texts and manuscripts. Weekly reading of two to four primary literature articles will be assigned (see below). These articles will be provided. Please note that lecture notes and assigned articles will be the source of material for all exams.
PowerPoint presentations and research articles covered in class each week will be made available online through Blackboard. Copies will also be available in the Psychology Main Office (125 Nightingale Hall) for photocopying.
However, if further references are desired, I recommend:
  1. Biological Psychology, 8th edition. JW Kalat, Wadsworth Publishing, Belmont, CA (2004).
  2. Principles of Neural Science, 4th edition. ER Kandel, JH Schwartz and TM Jessell, McGraw-Hill, NY (2000).

These may be of assistance to you, but ARE NOT REQUIRED. Both are available at Amazon.com or through the Northeastern University library. These texts provide excellent overviews, but often with much more material than needed for this course.

GRADING EVALUATION:
Final course grades will be computed using the following point system:
To be clear: every class, each of you will be reviewing something from the assigned articles, as determined by random selection. Keeping up with the assigned reading and attending each week is therefore critical to passing this class! Each weekís review is worth 5 pts. Scoring is based on covering the following points in the assigned material:
Additionally, a student can earn an extra credit point each class by posing relevant questions to their fellow reviewers. All students are encouraged strongly to participate on a regular basis.

STANDARD RULES AND PROCEDURES:
Students are expected to attend each class. In case of illness or scheduling conflicts resulting in a missed class, students are responsible for obtaining lecture materials from other students. Up to two missed reviews of articles may be made up with me during scheduled office hours. Students are to demonstrate respectful, professional behavior. Users of cell phones, pagers and PDAs are asked to minimize disruptions by stepping outside of the classroom. If you have a special circumstance in this regard, please see me. Likewise, if you have specific disabilities that you believe may require accommodations for this course, please meet with me at your earliest convenience to discuss appropriate measures to assist you. The Disability Resource Center on campus (20 Dodge Hall, x2675) may also prove helpful. Bear in mind that the University requires that you provide documentation of your disability to the DRC.
There are six key concepts that will help you succeed in this course:
  1. Attend class. Everything you need to know will be presented there.
  2. Ask questions! Note that I give points for this, so clearly I want questions.
  3. Keep up with the assigned readings. You will be asked to present something at random each week. If you maintain the pace of assigned readings, I promise this will not be a problem for you.
  4. Review the lecture notes. This will give you the information to understand the articles.
  5. Form study groups. Much of this material makes more sense when approached in a team.
  6. Ask for help. I am always available for a student in need.


SEMINAR IN PSYCHOBIOLOGY- PSY U656- DETAILED SYLLABUS FALL 2004:

September:
14 Introduction. Lecture: Cells, receptors and signal transduction
Example article review and presentation
21 Lecture: Neurobiology of sensory systems
Review of articles: Drug characterization
28 Lecture: Neurology and pharmacology of pain
Review of articles: Sensory perception
October:
5 Lecture: Neurobiology of learning and memory: LTP, Hebbian learning
Review of articles: Pain
Presentations 1 and 2
12 Lecture: Neurological substrates for language: anatomy and song
Review of articles: Learning and memory
Presentations 3 and 4
19 Lecture: Development of the central nervous system
Review of articles: Language
Presentations 5 and 6
26 MIDTERM EXAM(covers material from 9/14 ñ 10/19)
November:
2 Lecture: Neurodegeneration and diseases of the nervous system
Review of articles: Neural development
Presentations 7 and 8
9 Lecture: Neurobiological substrates of emotion; stress
Review of articles: Neurodegenerative conditions
Presentations 9 and 10
16 Lecture: Neurobiology of reward and motivation; drug addiction
Review of articles: Stress and anxiety
Presentations 11 and 12
23 Lecture: Neurobiological mechanisms of affective disorders and mood
Review of articles: Drug addiction
Presentations 13 and 14
30 Lecture: Neurobiological mechanisms underlying disorders of thought
Review of articles: Depression and affective disorders
Presentations 15 and 16
December:
7 Lecture: Review for final exam.
Review of articles: Schizophrenia
Presentations: all remaining
14 FINAL EXAM(covers material from 11/2 ñ 12/7)