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 vladimir.ljubojevic@mail.utoronto.ca Teaching Assistant: Jonathan Erez Office Hour: Wednesdays, 1:30-2:30pm, at SS4004/5 jonathan.erez@mail.utoronto.ca

OPTIONAL TEXTBOOK: Essential Psychopharmacology: Neuroscientific Basis and Practical Applications. Stephen M. Stahl, 3rd edition NOTE: dont 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 Term paper March 13th Final exam April exam period Class participation (BONUS mark) 35% 25% 40% 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 vladimir.ljubojevic@mail.utoronto.ca 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 Registrars 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 students individual academic achievement. As a result, the University treats cases of cheating and plagiarism very seriously. The University of Torontos 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 Jan 16 Jan 23 Jan 30 Feb 6 Feb 13 Feb 20

Introduction to the course Overview of basic concepts; electrical communication within neurons Chemical and electrical communication within and between neurons Mechanisms of drug action Neurotransmitters From circuits to symptoms Review Session Term Test Reading week no class-

PART II: Brain disorders related to faulty neurotransmission

Feb 27 March 6 March 13 March 20 March 27 April 3

Disorders of drug abuse Psychosis and schizophrenia Mood disorders Term paper DUE Disorders of sleep and wakefulness Dementias 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