Special Fall Seminar: Current
Controversies in Neuroscience and Behavior
PSB 4934 (undergraduates); PSB 7249 (grad students)
Tuesdays 4:05 p.m. – approximately 6:45 p.m., Room: Larsen 310
Instructor: Linda Hermer-Vazquez, Ph.D.
Office hours: Tues., 2 – 4 p.m., Rm. 322, Psychology Building
(352) 273-2172; lindahv@ufl.edu
Introduction: Scientific results acquired with new and advanced techniques for studying the nervous system are forcing a reconsideration of many long-held neuroscientific beliefs. This course will explore several of those controversies, which will range across behavioral, systems, and molecular neuroscience. In the introductory lecture on August 26th, 2008, Dr. H.-V. will review the main neuroscience concepts needed for success in the course. At the next meeting, she will present more advanced neuroscience material covered in an assigned reading. From then on, student teams will present review paper-based introductions to each controversy that we’ll cover, then more advanced articles leading to classroom debates. Short write-ups of the assigned articles for each topic (a subset of the total number of articles presented) will be due the day they are covered in class. Otherwise, students’ grades will be based entirely on classroom presentations and participation in discussions.
Grading: 40% -- classroom presentations
40% -- participation in classroom discussions
20% -- write-ups of articles for discussion
Introductory week: Aug. 26th, 2008
Review of basic neuroscience and neuroscientific study techniques
·
No
articles or write-ups will be assigned for this meeting.
Sept. 2nd, 2008
1st period -- Review and discussion of local field potentials and the methods for multi-site, multi-electrode recording
· Assigned reading: Bullock, 1997: Signals and signs in the nervous system: the dynamic anatomy of electrical activity is probably information-rich. PNAS 94 (1): 1-6.
2nd and 3rd periods -- Discussion of the classical view of motor coding.
· Assigned reading: Georgopoulos, 1995: Current issues in directional motor control. TINS 18 (11): 506 – 510. PDF
· Presented articles: Georgopoulos, 1988, and Georgopoulos, 1995 (PDF above)
Sept. 9th, 2008
A newer and compelling, although still controversial, view of action representation in the cortex (periods 1-2)
· Assigned reading: Graziano and Aflalo, 2007: Mapping behavioral repertoire onto the cortex. Neuron 56: 239-251. PDF
· Presented articles: The assigned reading, plus Aflalo and Graziano, 2006 (PDF); and Aflalo and Graziano, 2007 (PDF)
· Period 3 or period 1 of next meeting -- Recent articles contributing to the debate, and an overall discussion of the topic
· Presented articles: Stark et al., 2007 (PDF) and Hatsoupolous et al., 2007 (PDF)
Sept. 16th, 2008
Action and imitation: How much of primate behavior can be explained by neural interactions with mirror neurons?
Assigned reading: Jackson and Decety, 2004: Motor cognition: A new paradigm to study self-other interactions. Current Opinion in Neurobiology 14: 259-63. (PDF)
More coming…
Sept. 23rd, 2008
The debate over mirror cells, language acquisition, and autism
Sept. 30th, 2008
What role(s) does the cerebellum play in cognition?
Oct. 7th, 2008
Mechanisms of SSRIs and traditional anti-psychotic drugs
Oct. 14th, 2008
Atypical anti-depressants and anti-psychotics: What’s known about how they work?
Oct. 21st, 2008
Catch-up day – YES, this class is mandatory!
Oct. 28th, 2008
What causes hallucinations in psychotic patients?
Nov. 4th, 2008
What causes hallucinations in users of LSD, psilocybin and peyote, and are the mechanisms similar to those seen in schizophrenics and psychotic depression patients?
Nov. 11th, 2008
Veteran’s Day – no class
Nov. 18th, 2008
Introduction to neural theories of decision-making
Nov. 25th, 2008
Multiple circuits, not limited to the PFC, involved in decisions to act
Dec. 2nd, 2008
Beyond the homunculus: Decision-making, attention and working memory
Dec. 8th, 2008
Do eating disorders and self-cutting involve an addictive component?