Study Guide@lith
 

Linköping Institute of Technology

 
 
Valid for year : 2016
 
NBID54 Behavioral Neurobiology, 7,5 ECTS credits.
/Behavioral Neurobiology/

For:   ETH  

 

Prel. scheduled hours: 160
Rec. self-study hours: 40

  Area of Education: Science

Main field of studies: Biology, Chemical Biology

  Advancement level (G1, G2, A): A

Aim:
The student will increase her/his understanding of brain function in general and the role of hemispheric specialization in particular. The student will develop a proficiency in finding, evaluating and compiling primary and secondary research literature on a specific topic. The student will learn to design and conduct experiments on hemispheric specialization and to perform proper analysis of the data obtained. The student will improve her/his skills in summarizing and communicating the results of her/his own experimental results as well as of literature searches in both written and oral form.

Prerequisites: (valid for students admitted to programmes within which the course is offered)
120 ECTS including 90 ECTS in Biology.

Note: Admission requirements for non-programme students usually also include admission requirements for the programme and threshhold requirements for progression within the programme, or corresponding.

Organisation:
Nota bene: The course is scheduled fulltime during the second half of ht2.The course is organized in consecutive blocks covering different topics related to the overall theme of hemispheric specialization. Each block includes either a literature assignment or a laboratory exercise, that is, experiments to be performed and evaluated by the students. For each topic, some primary research articles and/or review papers will be provided as study material. The laboratory exercises in small groups require the writing of a lab report using quantitative methods and an oral presentation of the findings. The literature assignments in small groups require the writing of a one-page summary and an oral presentation to all other fellow students. The contents of the student presentations will be also evaluated in the course exam. Extra costs due to travelling and living must be paid by the student.

Course contents:
The course is centered around different aspects of hemispheric specialization as an approach to better understand brain function. Topics include:
  • Anatomical, neurochemical and behavioral asymmetries in the brain
  • Phylogeny of lateralized brain function
  • Ontogeny of lateralized brain function
  • Significance and adaptive value of lateralized behavior
  • Experimental approaches to assess hemispheric specialization
  • Searching and reading primary scientific literature within areas relevant for the course.
  • Critical assessments, written summaries and oral presentations of scientific literature


Course literature:
Recommended (but not compulsory) textbooks :
Sally Springer & Georg Deutsch, Left Brain Right Brain, MacMillan, New York, 1998/2004
Lesley J. Rogers & Richard Andrew, Comparative vertebrate lateralization, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2002
Marian Annett, Handedness and brain asymmetry : the right shift theory, Psychology Press, Hove, 2002


Examination:
Written examination
Essay report and presentation
Laboratory reports
2,5 ECTS
2,5 ECTS
2,5 ECTS
 
The final grade is the average across the score of the three examination aspects in the course.



Course language is English.
Department offering the course: IFM.
Director of Studies: Agneta Johansson
Examiner: Matthias Laska
Link to the course homepage at the department


Course Syllabus in Swedish

Linköping Institute of Technology

 


Contact: TFK , val@tfk.liu.se
Last updated: 06/19/2015