Selected Topics in Behavioral Neuroscience: Spring 2005

Behavioral Neuroscience syllabus, page 1
Selected Topics in Behavioral Neuroscience:
The Neurobiology of Learning and Memory (PSYC 222)
Spring 2005
Professor:
John Green
Dewey Hall 358
E-mail: psyc222jtg (through WebCT)
Office hours: Mondays and Thursdays, 9-10 am or by appointment
Meeting Time & Location:
Dewey Hall 212
Tuesdays and Thursdays, 3:30-4:45 pm
Prerequisite: Biopsychology (PSYC 121), Physiological Psychology (PSYC 221) or
Neurobiology (BIO 261).
Course Description: How is the brain involved in learning and memory? There are many
different levels at which we can approach this question, from the molecular, to the cellular, to the
systems. Being a psychologist, I am oriented towards the study of behavior of complex
(vertebrate) organisms, and thus my focus is on the systems level – how are brain systems
involved in producing behaviors that we can describe as learning and remembering? For
psychology majors, this class will explore this topic in more depth than Biopsychology (PSYC
121), where it was covered in a single chapter. For biology majors, this class will focus on a
higher level of analysis than Neurobiology (BIO 261), where the emphasis is on molecular and
cellular processes and simpler (invertebrate) organisms.
Textbook:
Eichenbaum (2002). The Cognitive Neuroscience of Memory. New York: Oxford
Supplemental Readings: (available on the class WebCT site)
Adolphs, R., Gosselin, F., Buchanan, T.W., Tranel, D., Schyns, P., & Damasio, A.R. (2005). A
mechanism for impaired fear recognition after amygdala damage. Nature, 433, 68-72.
Clayton, N.S., Bussey, T.J., & Dickinson, A. (2003). Can animals recall the past and plan for the
future? Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 4, 685-691.
Corkin, S. (2002). What’s new with the amnesic patient H.M.? Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 3,
153-160.
de Fockert, J.W., Rees, G., Frith, C.D., & Lavie, N. (2001). The role of working memory in
visual selective attention. Science, 291, 1803-1806.
Fendt, M. (2001). Injections of the NMDA receptor antagonist aminophosphopentanoic acid into
the lateral nucleus of the amygdala block expression of fear-potentiated startle and
freezing. Journal of Neuroscience, 21, 4111-4115.
Fortin, N.J., Agster, K.L., & Eichenbaum, H.B. (2002). Critical role of the hippocampus in
memory for sequences of events. Nature Neuroscience, 5, 458-462.
Behavioral Neuroscience syllabus, page 2
Koenig, O., Thomas-Anterion, C., & Laurent, B. (1999). Procedural learning in Parkinson’s
disease: Intact and impaired cognitive components. Neuropsychologia, 37, 1103-1109.
Maguire, E.A., Valentine, E.R., Wilding, J.M., & Kapur, N. (2003). Routes to remembering: the
brains behind superior memory. Nature Neuroscience, 6, 90-95.
Nader, K., Schafe, G.E., & LeDoux, J.E. (2000). Fear memories require protein synthesis in the
amygdala for reconsolidation after retrieval. Nature, 406, 722-726.
Schroeder, J.P., Wingard, J.C., & Packard, M.G. (2002). Post-training reversible inactivation of
hippocampus reveals interference between memory systems. Hippocampus, 12, 280-284.
Wheeler, M.E., Petersen, S.E., & Buckner, R.L. (2000). Memory’s echo: Vivid remembering
reactivates sensory-specific cortex. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences,
20, 11125-11129.
Evaluation:
Exam 1 – 20%
Exam 2 – 20%
Exam 3 – 20%
Article presentation & summary – 10%
Term paper – 30%
100 points
100 points
100 points
50 points
150 points
Exams: Exam format generally will be multiple-choice and short answer. Exams will cover
lectures, assigned textbook readings, and supplemental readings.
Make-up examinations: Make-up exams must be arranged with the instructor at least 48
hours prior to the exam. In the event of an illness, make-up exams will be administered only if
a medical excuse is provided by the Dean’s office. If you have a medical condition that may
interfere with taking an exam sometime in the semester, you must contact me in the first week of
class to discuss it.
General structure of the class: On Tuesdays, I will be lecturing. Lectures will cover important
topics in the textbook, including concepts and key experiments, and will add supplementary
information. On Thursdays, I will be lecturing for about the first 50 minutes. For the rest of
class time, students will be leading discussions of the supplementary readings as well as (time
permitting) delving further into important concepts. My role will be to guide and shape the
discussion, but I expect students to take an active role in posing and (hopefully) answering
questions.
Article presentation & summary: For the final 20-25 minutes on Wednesdays, students will
“assume the lecturer’s position” and present the supplemental reading for that week and lead a
class discussion. Two or three students will sign up to present an article together. For this
presentation, you should: (1) Summarize what the article was about, in your own words,
emphasizing the behavioral tests and results; (2) Relate it to material from lectures or the
textbook; and (3) Pose a question or two to the class for discussion. These presentations
should be made in Powerpoint format and sent to me prior to class (so that I can install them on
the class computer). Try not to include terminology from the article that you don’t understand!
All students are expected to participate in these discussions, although it is not expected that
Behavioral Neuroscience syllabus, page 3
every student will participate in every discussion.
Following the discussion of your article, you will be required to write up 1-2 page
written summary of the article and the class discussion of it, and send it to the entire class
(and me) through the WebCT (see below) e-mail system. This summary is due one week after
the discussion. Every day late will be penalized 5 points. (Please, no excuses!)
Points will be awarded based on the following criteria:
1. Quality of Powerpoint overheads
2. Understanding of the paper
3. Quality of questions for the audience
4. Quality of the written summary
Term paper: You will be required to write a paper describing in more detail one of the topics
we cover. You should briefly (1 page at most) summarize what the textbook and lectures say
about the topic, and then expand on it. You should have at least 5 references, using recent (1995
or later) articles on the topic, which you can find using PsycInfo or Medline. One of these
references should be a review article, which you should use to expand on what the textbook and
lectures say about the topic. The other 4 (or more) references should be studies that address the
topic, which you should describe in some detail, including what was done and how it supports
(or doesn’t support) previous findings on your chosen topic. It is important to make connections
between all of your sources so that you can tell a cohesive story!
Please use 1.25” margins, 12 pt. Time New Roman, and “Double” Line Spacing. The
paper should be at least 7 full pages long. Make sure to include a photocopy of the abstract
of each article you use. NOTE: This does not mean a printout from PsycInfo or Medline!!
I want a photocopy (or printout if a PDF version of the article) of the abstract from the
first page of the actual article! I will deduct 5 points for each missing or incorrect abstract.
The final paper is due in class on Thursday, April 21, although you are free to turn it in
at any time. Each day late (including weekend days!) will be penalized 15 points.
Attendance: I strongly encourage you to come to lectures, as I will be presenting material that
is not in the book or on the overheads, as well as explaining material that may be confusing to
you. In addition, class participation, particularly during article discussions, is important for
making this a fun and enjoyable class!
Special Needs & Health: For special needs, you can get information at www.uvm.edu/~access.
For health-related issues, you can get information at www.uvm.edu/health.
WebCT information: Just point your browser to: webct.uvm.edu and log in using your UVM
username and password.
I will be using WebCT to manage the course. The syllabus and basic information
regarding the semester plan will be available online. In addition, the supplemental readings will
be available as PDF files. Finally, on the Friday before class, the PowerPoint overheads that I
will use for lecture will be made available.
Class Schedule: Every effort will be made to stay on schedule. While there may be minor
Behavioral Neuroscience syllabus, page 4
changes in the syllabus, the examination schedule will almost certainly not be changed.
Week
Dates
Topic
Textbook
Supplemental Reading
1
Jan 18
Jan 20
Syllabus & Introduction
A Brief History
Chapter 1
2
Jan 25
Jan 27
Amnesia
Chapter 4
Corkin
3
Feb 1
Feb 3
Animal Models of Declarative Memory
Chapter 5
Clayton et al.
4
Feb 8
Feb 10
What Does the Hippocampus Do?
Chapter 6
Maguire et al.
5
Feb 15
Feb 17
Wrap-up & Review
EXAM 1
6
Feb 22
Feb 24
Multiple Memory Systems
Chapter 8
Schroeder et al.
7
Mar 1
Mar 3
No class – Town Meeting day!
Brain System for Declarative Memory
Chapter 9
Fortin et al.
8
Mar 8
Mar 10
Brain System for Declarative Memory
Brain System for Procedural Memory
Chapter 10
Koenig et al.
9
Mar 15
Mar 17
Brain System for Procedural Memory
Brain System for Emotional Memory
Chapter 11
Adolphs et al.
10
Mar 22
Mar 24
No class – Spring break!
No class – Spring break!
11
Mar 29
Mar 31
Brain System for Emotional Memory
EXAM 2
12
Apr 5
Apr 7
Role of Neocortex in Memory
Chapter 7
Wheeler et al.
13
Apr 12
Apr 14
Prefrontal Cortex & Working Memory
Chapter 13
de Fockert et al.
14
Apr 19
Apr 21
Behavioral Long-term Potentiation
Chapter 3
Fendt
TERM PAPER DUE!
15
Apr 26
Apr 28
Consolidation
Chapter 12
Nader et al.
16
May 3
May 5
Wrap-up & Review
No class – Reading day!
Behavioral Neuroscience syllabus, page 5
May 12, 4pm
EXAM 3