Psy 499, Section 1, Adv. Spec. Topics: Brain and Cognition
Dr. Mark H. Ashcraft CBC C 230, MW 10:00-11:15 am
Spring Semester, 2006
Tentative Syllabus
Dates: Topic Readings –Banich Man Suggested(F&F*)
Jan 17, 19 Intro, basics 1 4, 6 1
Jan 24, 26 neurons 1, 2 3, 23 2
Jan 31, Feb 2 Methods 2, 3 5 5,6
Feb 7, 9 methods, Hemis. Spec. 3
Exam on 9th
Feb 14, 16 Hemis. Spec 4
Feb 21, 23 Object & Spatial Recog 6, 7 1, 7 17, 18
Feb 28, Mar 2 Attention 8 24, 25
Mar 7, 9 Attention 8 8
Exam on 9th
March 12-19 Spring Break
Mar 21, 23 Language 9 9 11, 12
Mar 28, 30 Language 9
Apr 4, 6 Memory 10 2, 12, 15-19 38, 39
Gallbladder
Apr 11, 13 Memory
Apr 18, 20 Memory 10
Exam on 20th
Apr 25, 27 Exec Function 11 15
May 2, 4 Exec Function and review 11 10
Holidays: Feb 20, Mar 12-19
Withdraw with W deadline, Mar 31
Dr. Mark H. Ashcraft; Office CBC B432, Office Phone 895-0175, email mark.ashcraft@unlv.edu
Office hours: ½ hour before class and by appointment
Paper/Press Reports due dates: to be decided, either May 4, or by lottery, Thurs, Apr 20, Apr 27, or May 4 (depending on enrollment)
Required Texts:
Banich, M. T. (2004). Cognitive neuroscience and neuropsychology Boston : Houghton Mifflin (2 nd edition).
Sacks, O. (1970). The man who mistook his wife for a hat and other clinical tales . New York : Harper. (any edition)
Resources: “On Reserve” and in the library
“Gallbladder,” chapter outlines, misc. on “Electronic Course Reserve”
*Feinberg, T. E., & Farah, M. J. (Eds.). (1997). Behavioral neurology and neuropsychology. New York : McGraw-Hill. (This is the F&F “Suggested” readings; see the nearly equivalent electronic version at the library, called Patient-based approaches to cognitive neuroscience, same authors, 1999.)
Resources: misc.
The human brain coloring book . (Diamond, Scheiberl, Elson: HarperPerennial, 1985).
The internet – Do a search on “human brain” or “cognitive neuropsychology.
New York Times , Science section every Tuesday (on-line subscriptions are free; go to nyt.com)
Activities: Assignments (besides readings):
WWW (surf the net for info) Press Reports or
Popular press, or scientific articles Term paper, “lottery deadline”
Grades:
Three in-class Exams, final exam: each 20% Press Report/ Term Paper, 10%
Class Participation 10%
Grading Scale: 90% or better, A; 80%-90%, B, etc.
Note: Plagiarism on your term paper or scrapbook will result in an F in the course.
Paper Topics: Find a “specialty” within one of several broad categories; e.g.,
1. History: history of neuropsych, neurosurgery, etc.
2. Technology: modern neurosurgery, imaging technology
3. Acquired deficits: stroke/CVA, Korsakoff's syndrome, aphasia, amnesia, acalculia,
agnosia, dysexecutive syndrome
4. Congenital deficits: Down's syndrome, “autistic savants”
5. Diseases: Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, Tourette's (but remember the “cognitive warning”)
6. Lesion/surgery outcomes; split brain, patient HM, KC, PS, etc.
7. Research on cognition in normal brains: bilingualism, math, ambiguity, etc.
Your paper will present what is known about that specialty, and how that knowledge is important to cognitive neuropsychology. APA style is required. Approx. 10 pages (15 for grad students)
Press Report : A minimum of five articles (newspaper, popular scientific press) with your synopsis and commentary. For the synopsis part, simply retell the gist of the article, highlighting its newsworthiness. Your commentary will then draw from the text and the suggested readings, pointing out how the “news” advances our understanding of the topic, calls into question “conventional wisdom” about the topic, etc. Approx. 10 pages total.
Make Up Exams . You must telephone me (895-0175) ahead of time if you are forced to miss an exam; we will schedule a make-up if you phone and leave a message.