BSHE: Human and Animal Brain Representation in Neurosciences

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Animal and human brain representation in neuroscience

  • Course name: Animal and human brain representation in neuroscience
  • Code discipline: P.1.1 Course Characteristics
  • Subject area:

Short Description

This course covers the following concepts: Anatomy and physiology of nervous system, sensory organs and musculoskeletal system; Localization in the brain of the different physiological and behavioural aspects of human life.

Prerequisites

Prerequisite subjects

Prerequisite topics

Course Topics

Course Sections and Topics
Section Topics within the section
Anatomy and physiology
  1. Physiology of the brain cell
  2. Anatomy of brain and nervous system
Sensory organs
  1. Taste
  2. Smell
  3. Touch and pain
  4. Sight
  5. Hearing
Resting brain, attention, consciousness, sleep
  1. Mechanism of attention
  2. Resting brain and default mode network
Communication
  1. Language
  2. Brain control of communication
  3. Learning a second language
  4. Handwriting
Emotions, addiction and memory
  1. Neural basis of behaviour
  2. Neural basis of addiction
Movement
  1. Anatomy and physiology of muscles
  2. Tests to evaluate brain and muscle function during movement
  3. Neuronal control of muscles and movement

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)

What is the main purpose of this course?

Brain and nervous system are being studied more and more in the last years, as the basis for human computer interface, robotics and so on. Aim of this study is giving a brief overview of key concepts of anatomy and physiology of nervous system, sensory organs and musculoskeletal system, and to understand the localization in the brain of the different physiological and behavioural aspects of human and animal life (e.g. attention, emotions, communication, etc.)

ILOs defined at three levels

Level 1: What concepts should a student know/remember/explain?

By the end of the course, the students should be able to ...

  • Anatomy and physiology of the brain and central nervous system
  • Anatomy and physiology of sensory organs (sight, smell, touch, hearing, taste)
  • Anatomy and physiology of musculoskeletal system (muscles, tendons)
  • Brain representation of movement, communication, behaviour, attention, emotions, behaviour, and addiction

Level 2: What basic practical skills should a student be able to perform?

By the end of the course, the students should be able to ...

  • Localization of the different areas of the brain involved in different processes
  • Possible uses of fMRI and other scientific instruments in neurosciences
  • Possible applications of IT in neuroscience
  • Differences in brain activity between humans and animals
  • Different methodologies to explore the brain activity in different situations

Level 3: What complex comprehensive skills should a student be able to apply in real-life scenarios?

By the end of the course, the students should be able to ...

  • Medical instrumentations to neuroscience
  • IT to neuroscience
  • IT to medical instrumentation

Grading

Course grading range

Grade Range Description of performance
A. Excellent 90-100 -
B. Good 75-89 -
C. Satisfactory 60-74 -
D. Poor 0-59 -

Course activities and grading breakdown

Activity Type Percentage of the overall course grade
Labs/seminar classes 0
Interim performance assessment 30
Exams 50
Assigments (personal) 20

Recommendations for students on how to succeed in the course

Resources, literature and reference materials

Open access resources

  • M.F. Bear, B.W. Connors, M.A. Paradiso, Neuroscience – Exploring the brain, 4th edition, Wolters Kluwer, 2016
  • Hall, Guyton and Hall Textbook of Medical Physiology, Thirteenth Edition, Elsevier, 2016
  • Platform for large-scale, automated synthesis of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data,
  • Kubios HRV analysis software,
  • DICOM Viewer,

Closed access resources

Software and tools used within the course

Teaching Methodology: Methods, techniques, & activities

Activities and Teaching Methods

Activities within each section
Learning Activities Section 1 Section 2 Section 3 Section 4 Section 5 Section 6
Homework and group projects 1 1 1 1 1 1
Midterm evaluation 1 1 1 1 1 1
Testing (written or computer based) 1 1 1 1 1 1
Discussions 1 1 1 1 1 1

Formative Assessment and Course Activities

Ongoing performance assessment

Section 1

Activity Type Content Is Graded?
Question What is the difference between unipolar, bipolar and multipolar neurons 1
Question What are the parts of the peripheral nervous system? 1
Question What is the action potential? 1
Question What are the main parts of the brain? 1
Question In the MRI pictures presented, identify the prefrontal cortex 0
Question Using heart rate variability, identify which tasks activate primarily the sympathetic nervous system 0
Question Design an experiment to evaluate the parasympathetic nervous system 0

Section 2

Activity Type Content Is Graded?
Question How can the brain differentiate between different tastes? 1
Question Do receptors adapt to the stimulus? 1
Question What is the role of the tapetum lucidum? 1
Question Using the MRI pictures presented, identify the auditory cortex 0
Question Using the MRI pictures presented, identify the visual cortex 0
Question Manipulate the MRI picture provided to highlight the olfactory cortex 0
Question Is there a difference in the response of the autonomic nervous system to different kinds of music? Answer using heart rate variability 0
Question Is there a difference in the response of the automonic nervous system to different visual stimuli? Answer using heart rate variability 0

Section 3

Activity Type Content Is Graded?
Question What are the functions of the default mode network? 1
Question What is a zeitgeber? 1
Question What are the different functional states of the brain? 1
Question What are the two kinds of attention? 1
Question How many phases of sleep are there? 1
Question Using the MRI pictures provided identify the pituitary gland and the hypothalamus 0
Question Using the EEG waves provided identify the functional states of the brain 0
Question Develop a way to identify the different phases of the sleep cycle using activity trackers 0
Question Design an experiment to identify the different functional states of the brain using heart rate variability 0

Section 4

Activity Type Content Is Graded?
Question Which of these forms of communication comes naturally (you do not have to learn it)? 1
Question How are called the two main areas of the brain that control language? 1
Question Which hemisphere is usually the one responsible for the language? 1
Question What parts of our body are responsible for our voice and spoken letters? 1
Question How do we learn to recognize spoken words? 1
Question Using the MRI pictures provided identify the areas of the brain responsible for language processing and understanding 0
Question Based on the 13 pictures of dogs provided decode what the animals want to tell us 0
Question Based on the videos of dogs provided identify the communication of the animals with the humans and with each other 0
Question Discuss the possibility of creating an app to decode dog-human or dog-dog communication 0

Section 5

Activity Type Content Is Graded?
Question How are called the two main memory systems? 1
Question Which memory helps us remember facts and events? 1
Question What are the main mediators of emotions and behaviour? 1
Question Which neurotransmitter is responsible for motivating our behaviour? 1
Question Which part of the brain controls fear? 1
Question Using the MRI pictures provided identify the parts of the brain involved in memory retaining 0
Question I will show you a written text, after 5 minutes I will cover it and you will be asked to write down as many parts of the text as possible, afterwards I will read you a text, at the end you will be asked to write down as many parts of the text as possible. Comparing the answers, you will be able to determine what kind of learner you are 0
Question Based on the tests you will find on the website provided, http://www.whatismylearningstyle.com/index.html, determine your learning style: is it accurate? How can you improve your study time and skills based on these results? 0

Section 6

Activity Type Content Is Graded?
Question What is the function of the musculoskeletal system? 1
Question How many types of neurons are involved in the neural regulation of movement? 1
Question How is the movement regulated in the brain? 1
Question What is the role of the cerebellum? 1
Question Using the MRI pictures provided identify the parts of the brain involved in the control of movement and the cerebellum 0
Question Analyse the EMG waves provided and confront them with the EEG waves 0
Question From the website provided, https://physionet.org/, and working in pairs, select and discuss a study that uses either EEG or EMG 0

Final assessment

Section 1

  1. Please describe the different phases of the action potential of the neural cell
  2. Please describe the differences between sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system
  3. Please describe the methods used for evaluation of the brain and nervous system

Section 2

  1. Describe the mechanism by which we are able to localize an auditory stimulus in the space
  2. Describe the mechanism of sight
  3. Describe how tactile receptors work
  4. Describe how the vestibular system works
  5. Describe how pain receptors work

Section 3

  1. Outline the characteristics of a zeitgeber
  2. Describe the characteristics of the functional states of the brain based on EEG findings
  3. Comment on the cyclical variations of eye movement, heart rate and respiratory rate during sleep
  4. Describe the neural mechanism of sleep

Section 4

  1. Describe the brain basis of language processing
  2. Describe the effect of learning a second language on the fluency of the first language
  3. What are the characteristics of brain control of handwriting?
  4. List the different ways animals can communicate

Section 5

  1. Describe and comment on endocrine control of emotions
  2. Describe the stress response
  3. Comment on neuronal effects of addiction and possible differences between different kinds of addictions
  4. Describe and comment on the different kinds of memory

Section 6

  1. Describe the physiology of muscle cells
  2. Describe the role of cerebellum in the control of movement
  3. What is the homunculus? Compare and comment on the different types described

The retake exam

Section 1

Section 2

Section 3

Section 4

Section 5

Section 6