Welcome to the Fundamental Neuroscience course!
The course is taught annually. Number of credits: 5
Extent and intensity: in total 7 lectures and self-study.
Taught frequency: every even Tuesday 18:00 - 19:40, room P51. The first lecture will take place in February 20, 2024.
Course objectives: The course aims to acquaint students with the basic anatomy and neurophysiological principles of the nervous system from the cellular level to the complex brain functions that are the basis of cognition and action.
After completion of the course, the student will be able: to describe the basic anatomy of the nervous system; to define basic neurophysiological terms; to explain neurophysiological mechanisms of perception, information processing, movement, memory and learning, behaviour, motivational systems, emotions and feelings; to explain the relationship of defense behaviour and stress response to the aetiology of some mental diseases. The acquired information can be then utilised in the study of psychopathology, psychopharmacology, clinical psychology and psychotherapy, or neuroscientific papers.
Assessment methods: Fundamental Neuroscience course is completed by a written test: the student write answers to three open questions within one hour. Every question will be graded A-F. To pass the exam, the student must obtain at least a grade E in each assessed question. In the last part of the test, the student must draw selected anatomical structures into schemas of the brain.
The written test is online in the MU Information System.
The examination dates will be specified during the last lecture.
Study materials:
Purves Dale. Neuroscience. 6th ed., Oxford University Press, 2018, ISBN10 1605353809
Purves Dale. Principles of cognitive neuroscience. 2nd ed. Sunderland, Mass.: Sinauer Associates, 2013. xxii, 601. ISBN 9780878935734.
LeDoux, J.E. & Damasio, A.R. Emotions and feelings. In: Kandel, E.R., Schwartz, J.H., Jessell, T.M., Siegelbaum, S.A. & Hudspeth, A.J. (Ed.). Principles of neural science. New York: McGraw-Hill,s. 2013; 1079–1094.
LeDoux, J.E. Cognitive-emotional interactions: Listen to the brain. In: Lane R.D. & Nadel, L. (Ed.). Cognitive neuroscience of emotion. New York: Oxford University Press, 2000; 129–155.
Lane, R. Neural Substrates of Implicit and Explicit Emotional Processes: A Unifying Framework for Psychosomatic Medicine. Psychosomatic Medicine. 2008 (70); 214–231.
Damasio, A. & Carvalho, G.B. The nature of feelings: evolutionary and neurobiological origins. Nature Reviews Neuroscience 2013; 14 (2), 143–152.
Thayer, J.F. & Brosschot, J.F. Psychosomatics and psychopathology: looking up and down from the brain. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 2005; 30, 1050–1058.
Thayer, J. & Lane, R. A model of neurovisceral integration in emotion regulation and dysregulation. Journal of Affective Disorders, 2000; 61, 201–216.
In the study materials in MU Information System, you can find the document Topics for Fundamental Neuroscience course 2023.pdf. The questions in the final test are based only on these topics and anatomical concepts.