psy396 s syllabus
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PSY396S – Jan-April 2014 Course syllabus
Course syllabus: PSY396-S Neurochemical Basis of Behaviour
Thursday 6pm – 9pm, Sidney Smith Hall room#1073
Instructor: Vladimir Ljubojevic
Office Hour: Mondays, 9:00-10:00am, at SS4004/5
Teaching Assistant: Jonathan Erez
Office Hour: Wednesdays, 1:30-2:30pm, at SS4004/5
OPTIONAL TEXTBOOK: Essential Psychopharmacology: Neuroscientific Basis and Practical
Applications. Stephen M. Stahl, 3rd
edition
NOTE: don’t be in a rush to purchase the textbook; more information about the usefulness
of the textbook will be provided during the first class
COURSE DESCRIPTION: The functional relevance of neurotransmitters, with particular
emphasis on their role in mediating behaviour. Prerequisite: PSY201H1 (or equivalent), PSY260H1/PSY290H1/HMB200H1/HMB204H1/HMB220H1/NRS201H1
Exclusion: PCL475Y1 Distribution Requirement Status: This is a Science course
Breadth Requirement: Living Things and Their Environment (4)
GRADING:
Term test Feb 13th
35%
Term paper March 13th
25%
Final exam April exam period 40%
Class participation (BONUS mark) 2%
IMPORTANT COURSE DATES:
Jan 9 – first class
Feb 13 – Term test
Feb 17th to 21st – Family Day and Reading week, no class or office hours
Feb 27 – deadline for submitting the topic for term paper
March 9 – last day to drop the course without academic penalty
March 13 – Term paper due
April 9th to 30th – Exam period
PSY396S – Jan-April 2014 Course syllabus
COURSE OBJECTIVES:
A specific set of evaluation tools in the course was selected in order to motivate the students to
acquire knowledge about the neurochemical basis of behaviour and to allow the students to exercise
transferable academic skills. In this course:
-the students should develop the understanding of the basic principles of neurotransmission
in the nervous system.
-the students should learn how apply the basic principles of neurotransmission to explain the
pathology, symptoms, and treatment strategies of several common brain disorders.
-the students should learn to analyze and contrast the research findings in the field of
neuroscience. Paper assignment was set in order to motivate the students to learn how to do the
following: a) review the published literature for a topic of interest, b) summarize the complex ideas
within a short piece of written work, c) efficiently use the in-text references, and d) write concisely.
TERM TEST/EXAM:
For both tests, you are responsible for all assigned textbook readings as well as the material covered
in the lecture. Class attendance is not mandatory, but please note that lectures and in-class
discussion will cover material that is not included in the textbook. Term test will include the
course material from the first part of the semester (Jan 9th – Feb 6th). The final exam will
include all course material, with the emphasis on the content covered in the second part of the
course (Feb 27th
– April 3rd
).
Both tests will be 2 hours long. They will include multiple choice questions (1 or 2 points each),
short answer questions (5 points each), and long answer questions (10 points each). One short
answer question and one long answer question as well as the appropriate response to each will be
posted on the Blackboard during the first week of class as examples.
TERM PAPER:
In the paper you will provide a brief literature review on the topic of your choosing. The topic must
relate to course material and must be pre-approved by the course instructor. Please email the
proposed topic as well as the brief (approx. 100 words) rationale for choosing the topic to
[email protected] as soon as possible but no later than Feb 27th
. Note that the
rationale for the topic will not be graded in any way, but the topic will not be approved unless you
provide compelling argument for choosing it.
Term paper should relate to one or more concepts covered in class, but it should include
information that goes above and beyond the course material. To write a good paper, you should be
concise and focused, and provide in-depth analysis of one selected topic. Main sources of
information for the paper should be primary research articles.
Paper should be no longer than 2000 words. Feel free to include graphs and figures in the paper;
refer to the figures in the main body of the paper and do not use figure captions. Figures and the list
PSY396S – Jan-April 2014 Course syllabus
of references will not count toward the word limit. Feel free to use any style of referencing (hint:
number system of in-text citations will save you some words), but make sure to provide a full list of
references.
Paper is due on March 13th
by 11:59pm. You will likely be required to submit the electronic copy of
the paper using Turnitin tool on your course Portal page; more detailed information on the
submission process will be provided closer to the due date.
CLASS PARTICIPATION:
You are encouraged to ask questions that relate to the course material and to engage in the class
discussion during the lectures. Students who demonstrate exceptional knowledge and critical
thinking skills during in-class discussions throughout the course will be eligible to receive a bonus
mark of 2%. Note that the assignment of bonus marks is at the full discretion of the course
instructor.
COURSE POLICIES:
Missed tests.
Missed or unexcused exams will be treated as zeros for the given test. Make-up term test will be
given only under valid circumstances (e.g. documented family emergency or illness). Contact us
prior to or within the week of a missed test to determine when or if a make-up exam is possible. The
form for medical documentation can be found at: http://www.utoronto.ca/health/forms/forms.htm.
Make-up test will be 2 hours long and will include 3 essay questions.
Students who miss final examinations should file a petition for a deferred exam with their College
Registrar’s Office.
Penalties for lateness.
Late submissions of the term paper will be penalized by 10% mark reduction per day. Since you
have several weeks to write the paper I encourage you to start the work sooner rather than later.
Early submissions are welcome.
Turnitin.com. Normally, students will be required to submit their course essays to Turnitin.com for a review of
textual similarity and detection of possible plagiarism. In doing so, students will allow their essays
to be included as source documents in the Turnitin.com reference database, where they will be used
solely for the purpose of detecting plagiarism. The terms that apply to the University's use of the
Turnitin.com service are described on the Turnitin.com web site.
E-mail policy. I will try to respond to e-mails within 48 hours. If you do not hear from me within that time, feel
free to send a reminder e-mail. To ensure e-mail delivery, please use your @mail.utoronto.ca
account and state the course code in the subject line.
PSY396S – Jan-April 2014 Course syllabus
ACADEMIC RESOURCES:
Writing:
As a student here at the University of Toronto, you are expected to write well. The university
provides its students with a number of resources to help them achieve this. For more information on
campus writing centres and writing courses, please visit http://www.writing.utoronto.ca/
Academic Integrity:
Academic integrity is essential to the pursuit of learning and scholarship in a university, and to
ensuring that a degree from the University of Toronto is a strong signal of each student’s individual
academic achievement. As a result, the University treats cases of cheating and plagiarism very
seriously. The University of Toronto’s Code of Behaviour on Academic Matters
(www.governingcouncil.utoronto.ca/policies/behaveac.htm) outlines the behaviours that constitute
academic dishonesty and the processes for addressing academic offences.
All suspected cases of academic dishonesty will be investigated following procedures outlined in
the Code of Behaviour on Academic Matters. If you have questions or concerns about what
constitutes appropriate academic behaviour or appropriate research and citation methods, you are
expected to seek out additional information on academic integrity from course instructor or from
other institutional resources (see www.utoronto.ca/academicintegrity/resourcesforstudents.html).
Submitting a paper that you did not write, recycling papers you have written for other classes, or
quoting others without citing them constitutes plagiarism. Please refer to following resources for
more details: http://www.utoronto.ca/writing/plagsep.html
Accessibility:
Students with diverse learning styles and needs are welcome in this course. In particular, if you
have a disability/health consideration that may require accommodations, please feel free to
approach the course instructor and/or Accessibility Services at (416) 978 8060;
accessibility.utoronto.ca
PSY396S – Jan-April 2014 Course syllabus
Date Topic
PART I: Basic principles of signal transduction in the nervous system
Jan 9 Introduction to the course
Overview of basic concepts; electrical communication within neurons
Jan 16 Chemical and electrical communication within and between neurons
Jan 23 Mechanisms of drug action
Jan 30 Neurotransmitters
Feb 6 From circuits to symptoms
Review Session
Feb 13 Term Test
Feb 20 Reading week –no class-
PART II: Brain disorders related to faulty neurotransmission
Feb 27 Disorders of drug abuse
March 6 Psychosis and schizophrenia
March 13 Mood disorders
Term paper DUE
March 20 Disorders of sleep and wakefulness
March 27 Dementias
April 3 Short talk on the future of neuroscience:
B.R.A.I.N. initiative
Human Connectome Project
Changing research trends
Review session
April 9-30 Exam period