Psychology366:CognitiveNeuroscienceFALL2018 Neiworth

ClassmeetsT-Th1:15–3:00(4,5c)Classroom:Olin102-104Officehours:Mondays,3a,Tuesdays,3:30-5:00,Thursdays,12-1:00,andbyapt.Email:jneiwort@carleton.eduOffice:Olin113andHulings14aPhone:x4372,leavemessage(lab,x4504)Cognitiveneuroscienceisthestudyofhowthebrainenablesthemind.Itisarelativelynewfield(sincethe1970’s,whenthetermwascoinedbyM.Gazzaniga),andasGazzanigasays,itisatrickybusiness.Thiscourseembodiesthetwobasicapproachesthatscientiststaketoanswerthequestion,howdoesthebrain(wetstuff)enablethemind(mentalstuff)?Thefirstapproachisthestudyofneurons,theneuralenvironment,glialcells,andresponses(likeimmunologicalandinflammatoryreactions),brainstructures,andneuralfunction.Theassumptionisthatalow-levelaccountofhowallcellsinthebrain,brainstructures,andneurochemicalsaremodifiedbyexperienceisinfactwherethe"mind"is.Inotherwords,themindisnotinasingularplaceinthebrain,butisrepresentedthroughintactconnectionsvianeuralpathwaysandcellularinteractions,wherebyachangeinthecurrentstateofchemicalsandfiringpatternsinducesanidea,perception,memory,orthought.Thisapproachisaccomplishedthroughanimalexperiments,computermodelingofbrainactionswithmentalactions,andtrackingpathwaysinvolvedincertaincognitiveprocesses(likeperception).Thesecondapproachiscalledcognitiveneuropsychology,andassumesthatwecanunderstandbesthowthemindisenabledbythebrainbystudyinghumanpatientswithparticularbraindamagedsitestotrackwherefailuresoccur.Theapproachtothisclassistobalanceneuroscientificandneuropsychologicalevidence,cognitivetheoryandcognitivedemonstrations.Thereisheavyuseofpatientdata(asreflectedbycasespresentedinclass,fromRamachandran'sPhantomsintheBrainandbyMarthaFarah'sVisualAgnosia).Textsforthiscourseinclude:Ward,J.(2015).Thestudent'sguidetocognitiveneuroscience.NewYork:NY,PsychologyPress,3rdedition.[calledW:inthedailyassignments]Farah,M.J.(2004).VisualAgnosia,2ndEdition.MITPress,Cambridge,MA.[calledF:inthedailyassignments.]

Ramachandran,V.(2011).TheTell-TaleBrain:Aneuroscientist’squestforwhatmakesushuman.Norton&Company,NY.[referredtoasRinthedailyassignments]Anassortmentofreadingswillbeincludedthatcaptureimportantempiricalfindingsintheareaofcognitiveneuroscience,generally,andthataddressthesetwolevelsandwhateachcancontribute.Yourassignmentstobeevaluatedinthiscourseare:

• classparticipation,viaquestionssubmittedeachweekviaMoodledropbox[10%],• anexamonneuronsbrainstructuresandvisualprocessing[20%],

scheduledonTuesday,Oct2,inclass.• anannotatedbibliographyofarticleswhichwillcontributetoyourpaper[10%].

DueTuesday,Oct23,endoftheday,inthepsychoffices.• anoralpresentationofyourpaperidea,whichoccursduringthelastweekofterm

[20%]occurringTuesday,Nov12orThursday,Nov14–signupsheetwillbeavailablelater.

• aproject/paperdueattheendoftheterm[40%]dueonthedayofthefinalexamforthisclass,droppedintheMoodledropbox.

PleaseseemeifyouhavespecialcircumstancesfortakingtheEXAMandwecanarrangesomething.Pleasedoallreadingsbeforetheclassonwhichtheyareassigned.ThecourseisheavilydrivenbyquestionsanddiscussionandwhileIwillprovidemini-lecturesatthebeginningofeachmeetingtoreviewtechnicalmaterial,alargechunkofeachclasswillbedevotedtodiscussingarticlesorcases,brainstormingabouthowthebrainworks,andderivingexperimentsthatwouldanswerparticularquestions.ReligiousobservancesIfyouhaveareligiousobservancethatconflictswithyourparticipationinthiscourse,letmeknowbytheendofthesecondweekofterm(Sept21)todiscussappropriateaccommodations.E-tiquetteDuringourclassmeetingtimes,yourcellphoneshouldremainstowedawayandlaptopsshouldonlybeusedforcoursework.HonorPolicyIexpectallstudentstobetruthfulandtocompleteallcourseassignmentsincludinghomework,testsandexamsetcwithoutassistancefromanysource.Ifyouuseideasfromothers,includingtheirdatafindingsortheirwording,youmustacknowledgethatyouborrowedanotherperson’sidea.PleaseseekhelponpropercitationformatfrommeortheStudentAcademicSupportprograms.Alsoseehttp://apps.carleton.edu/campus/doc/honesty/foradditionalinformationtheacademichonestyatCarleton.