BCS 110S: Syllabus

Summer 2012

Personnel

Lectures will be given by:

Riccardo Pedersini
E-mail:
Phone: 585-275-0759
Office hours by appointment

Robert Emerson
E-mail:
Phone: 585-276-5058
Office hours by appointment

The best way to contact us is via email. However, please do not hesitate to call our office and leave a message. We will get back to you as soon possible.

About the Course

The course provides an introduction to the brain. We will discuss its structure, organization, and function while learning how it controls everything we do: our perceptions, actions, thoughts, and emotions.

The early part of the course deals with communication in the brain, how it analyzes information. We review the biology of the brain, how we can learn what the brain does, and the kinds of properties that encourage us to think of the brain as an information processor.

Then, we examine how the brain picks up information about the world through the senses and analyzes information about what we see, feel, hear, smell, and taste —and how it uses this information to make decisions about the world. Later parts of the course examine the control of sexual behavior and some of the differences between the male and female brains. We also explore how the brain regulates the internal state of the body and our eating, drinking, sleeping and waking and emotional behaviors and drives. Later, we examine how different functions are localized in different parts of the brain, and what we can learn from observing people and animals who have suffered damage to their brains. Finally, we look at how brain disorders lead to disordered behavior.

General Information

The information that follows, and any additional material relating to the course, will be available through Blackboard.

The department's home page contains a link to a page that provides information about all courses being taught by the department. On the pages for BCS 110S you will find, among other things, lecture slides and special announcements. In general, special announcements will be made at the beginning of class and will be posted on the web page or emailed to you. Make sure to consult the web page if you have missed the start of a lecture.

Organization

The aim of the lectures is to introduce students to topics that can be followed-up through reading; lectures and readings are complementary, and neither alone provides all that students should expect to get from the course. Most readings are from the course book (see below). For some topics, the course book provides limited information, and supplementary information may be presented in lectures.

Readings

The course text (James W. Kalat, Biological Psychology, 11th edition, Brooks/Cole), covers most of the material to be dealt with in lectures. Readings will be assigned from the textbook or, for certain classes, may be assigned from elsewhere. You should try to read (or at least review) each assigned reading before class.

For those who would like to learn more about the workings of the brain, the book Neuroscience: Exploring the Brain, by M.E. Bear, B.W. Connors, M.A. Paradiso, Williams and Wilkins, 3rd edition, 2007, provides an excellent introduction to brain function but in greater depth than is required for the course. Students contemplating further study in neuroscience might find it worth buying.

BCS Major and Research Opportunities

If you enjoy the course and would like to either major in BCS or find out about research opportunities in neuroscience or cognitive science, you can find opportunities listed on the BCS website (under the link "Jobs and Postdoctoral Opportunities".

The BCS department offers B.A. and B.S. degrees. If you're wondering what type of jobs you can get with a BCS degree, consult: http://www.bcs.rochester.edu/undergrad/lifeafterbcs.html

Exams and Grading

The final grade will be determined by class attendance (5%) and performance on: (1) two midterm exams (30% each), (2) a final exam (35%). You must complete all the requirements to pass the course.

The exams will consist mostly of multiple choice and short answer questions. You will have the option of revising your answers to recover half of the points lost for each item on all three exams. For each item you decide to change, you will have to answer the question correctly and write brief, single-paragraph explanations of why this is the case. Explanations should address why the correct answer is correct and why the other answers are incorrect. Explanations should NOT be simple citations to the book or lecture. Finally, if you change an answer that was correct originally, you will lose those points. The exam will be held during regular class time and the revised answers are due within 24 hours after each exam.

Please do not hesitate to contact us to get help if you need it.

Grading Scale

x > 93 A
90 ≤ x ≤ 93 A-
87 < x < 90 B+
83 < x ≤ 87 B
80 ≤ x ≤ 83 B-
77 < x < 80 C+
73 < x ≤ 77 C
70 ≤ x ≤ 73 C-
67 < x < 70 D+
63 < x ≤ 67 D
60 ≤ x ≤ 63 D-
x < 60 E

The dates of the exams are clearly identified on the schedule. The only circumstance under which you will be able to take an exam other than at the scheduled time is if you have been ill and provide a note to that effect for that day from the University Health Service (which means you see someone at the University Health Service when you are sick) or from a private physician. If you are going to miss an exam or a lecture, contact us by email or by calling and leaving a voicemail as soon as possible to arrange a make-up.

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