Human and Animal Neuropsychology

Description

Information on the fundamentals of neuropsychology is provided as well as by seminars that cover selected topics.  The course deals primarily with human neuropsychology, focusing on various CNS disorders, from both clinical and experimental perspectives.  An important part of the course is to include relevant work on animal models that is pertinent to understanding human disorders and the broader multidisciplinary study of brain-behavour relations in general.  The specific seminars are not fixed and particular student interests will be considered. For example, likely topics would be: experimental approaches to recovery of brain function (intracerebral neural transplants; trophic factors); the prefrontal cortex and cognition; the neuropsychology of attention; dementia (e.g. Alzheimer's disease); multiple sclerosis; Parkinson's disease; memory disorders (limbic system functions); foetal alcohol syndrome; schizophrenia; attention deficit disorder; autism; neural basis of learning and memory.  As far as possible, the emphasis is on contemporary knowledge and understanding emanating from recent empirical work.  Some practical experience in research-related tasks may also be provided (e.g. human neuropsychology testing, a contribution to an animal project and/or a research proposal).  Sometimes, a visiting academic or member of the local health community will provide an additional perspective.

This course is limited to 20 students.