Description: This course describes the relationship between the brain and behaviour, and is intended for students who are eventually planning to do research in systems neuroscience. The course will provide you with a general introduction to neural systems and behaviour, and will describe a few representative sensory and motor systems in enough depth that you will be able to read the current literature. Most of the course consists of lectures (3 hours per week), plus a few labs to introduce the general plan of the mammalian brain.
In the fall term we cover sensory systems (e.g., visual, somatosensory, and auditory). The spring term is spent primarily on motor control (body, limb and eye movements). There may also be sections on the emotions, cognitive neuroscience, and other related topics. For each system we discuss different experimental approaches, e.g. neurophysiology, neuroanatomy, psychophysics, and mathematical modelling.
Prerequisites: PSL300H/CSB332H/PSY290, or the equivalent
Evaluation: fall term test (20%), mid-term (20%), spring term test (20%), final exam (40%). Exams are a mixture of long and short essay questions.
Texts: Purves et al Neuroscience 4th edition of Sinauer
