Course Identification

Biology module: Cognitive neuroscience
20206071

Lecturers and Teaching Assistants

Dr. Orit Furman
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Course Schedule and Location

2020
First Semester
Thursday, 09:15 - 11:00, Musher, Lab 1
07/11/2019

Field of Study, Course Type and Credit Points

Science Teaching (non thesis MSc Track): Lecture; Obligatory; Regular; 2.00 points

Comments

לתלמידי שני השנתונים

Prerequisites

No

Restrictions

30
For students in the Rothschild-Weizmann program only

Language of Instruction

Hebrew

Attendance and participation

Required in at least 80% of the lectures

Grade Type

Pass / Fail

Grade Breakdown (in %)

20%
80%
The grade for the course will be based on an essay submitted at the end of the semester.

Evaluation Type

Final assignment

Scheduled date 1

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-
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Estimated Weekly Independent Workload (in hours)

2

Syllabus

Neuroscience is a broad field that draws upon studies from molecular biology, chemistry, physics, behavioral psychology, cognitive psychology, computer science and more. This course provides an introduction to the study of neural processes which produce human behavior, focusing on learning and memory. We will describe methods and findings from neurobiological and cognitive psychology perspectives.


The course will cover the following topics:

  1. Functional neuroanatomy: Outline of brain anatomy and functional specialization.
  2. What we can and cannot measure in the brain: EEG, fMRI, Single cell recording, ECoG, PET.
  3. Brain development and brain plasticity: what are critical periods?
  4. Introduction to neurobiology: From neuron structure to brain function (morphology, signal transduction, chemical signaling).
  5. Attention systems in the brain: how do we focus our attention? What happens in brains that cannot attend properly, such as those with attention deficit disorder (ADHD)?
  6. Introduction to memory: how many kinds of memory are there? How is a memory created? How do we forget? What creates false memories? Can brain activity predict what we are about to remember or mis-remember?
  7. Consolidation and reconsolidation of memories: synaptic and systems consolidation, new insights into consolidation from recent studies.
  8. Sleep and memory: is sleep crucial for memory consolidation? Can we learn while we are asleep?
  9. Emotions affect memory creation and memory retrieval: What is the difference between a strong emotional memory and a traumatic memory? Recent advances in the study of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
  10. Language processing in the brain, neural correlates of learning disabilities
  11. Brain aging and dementia: Alzheimer's disease 

Learning Outcomes

Upon successful completion of the course- students should be able to:

  1. Comprehend principles of basic research techniques in human brain research.
  2. Comprehend research questions and key concepts in cognitive brain research, such as memory, consolidation and attention.
  3. Demonstrate familiarity with neuro-educational methods : novel pedagogical methods developed in order to rely on current knowledge about brain function.
  4. Critically read scientific literature and present key concepts and scientific findings to general audiences such as high school students.

Reading List

Each week a suggested reading (review paper) will be distrubuted in preparation for the next lecture.

Website

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