BCS 204: Syllabus

Fall 2012

Time & Location

Tuesdays, 12:30 - 4:30 PM
Meliora 111, 178, Rochester Center for Brain Imaging (RCB) Room 2-A224. Map to RCBI

Personnel

Dr. Brad Mahon (Instructor)
Meliora 321

Office Hours: By Appt

Dr. Renee Miller (Instructor)
Meliora 106

Office Hours: By Appt

Kevin Dieter (TA)
Meliora 242

Office Hours: By Appt

Purpose

The course is designed to introduce the methods of cognitive neuroscience, with particular emphasis on functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI), patient-based research on brain organization, and neuroscience research with nonhuman animals. Readings are principally drawn from the primary literature as well as a textbook and students will also conduct their own literature reviews. All readings are available on black board; there is no textbook for this course. The goals of the course are for students to have familiarity with the methods of cognitive neuroscience, the types of questions that cognitive neuroscience seeks to answer, and how experiments are designed to answer those questions. Particular emphasis is placed on the relationship between theory and evidence, and how experiments are able to adjudicate among different hypotheses. Students are encouraged to think critically about published experiments and encouraged through short weekly assignments to propose their own novel experiments to address outstanding questions that emerge from the readings.

Class Requirements

Class attendance, assigned readings, and participation in discussions and class- based experiments are all mandatory.

If you have an unexcused absence, you will be expected to complete that week's assignments before seeking help from the instructors. Unexcused absences will result in 5% being taken off of the participation grade.
Excused absences are documented illnesses, family emergencies & official university events (official UR events require an advance notice so that an alternative arrangement can be made).

Required Materials

Textbook: "Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging" Scott A. Huettel, Allen W. Song, Gregory McCarthy, Second Edition.

Available at course reserves at Rush Rhees Library. This text provides an overview of all aspects of functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) data collection and analysis. We will draw on chapters that describe the physiological responses of the brain that underlie Blood Oxygen Level Dependent (BOLD) changes, analysis of BOLD data, experimental design and statistical analysis.

Grading

All students will give two power point presentation, turn in a bibliography + 1 page outline for the power point presentation, write 6 one page papers, and one 8-12 page paper.

With the exception of the five 1-2 page assignments; All assignments are due by 12pm the day they are due—no exceptions. All assignments should be sent by email (one file, including text, references, and all figures) to BZM and KD. Either word documents (.doc or .docx) or pdfs are accepted. No incompletes will be given except for certified illness or family emergency. The late penalty for the two-page and 8-12 page written assignments is one letter grade for each day late. The one page assignments and the outline of the power point slides will be scored as zero if late. If all of the one page assignments are turned in, then we will drop the lowest grade. Please bring a hard copy of your 1-2 page papers to class the day they are due (typed).

Power point presentations should be sent along with a separate word or pdf document containing a bibliography for references cited in the power point to BZM and KD. Because power point presentations are group presentations, one copy of the entire presentation is sufficient; each student should send in his/her bibliography along with the outline for their slides. Please be sure that your file(s) are not too large to be sent by email (best if less than 1mb).

Graded Assignments

All students will give one power point presentation (either 9.20.11 or 10.25.11), will complete one 6-8 page paper (due 11.22.11) with one revision (due 12.22.11), and 3 3-4 page papers (either 9.20.11 or 10.25.11, 11.29.11, & 12.6.11).

Assignments are due by 12pm the day they are due. Written assignments should be sent by email (one file, including text, references, and all figures) to BZM and KD. Power point presentations should be sent along with a separate document with a bibliography for references cited in the power point to BZM and KD. Because power point presentations are group presentations, one copy of the entire presentation is sufficient; each student should send in his/her bibliography. Please be sure that your file(s) are not too large to be sent by email (best if less than 1mb).

Participation

10% Participation in class discussions. All students are expected to contribute to class discussion and to contribute to the experiments that are conducted in class.
20% Participation in labs. Everyone is expected to fully participate in all labs, and to contribute to the experiments that are conducted in class.
20% Participation in 2 group power-point presentations (10% each presentation). Each power point presentation will have three students, and should last 15 minutes. The presentation should be organized so that the entire presentation forms a coherent 'whole' with every student contributing approximately 5 minutes. These presentations require significant collaboration and organization outside of class. Each student is responsible for preparing their own slides and what they will say, and each student will be graded independently.

Written Assignments

30% There are 5, 1-2 page, papers due throughout the semester. These papers are based on the reading. The goal of each assignment is to identify an unresolved issue from the readings, and to propose an experiment that can address that issue. These assignments should be organized into three sections, with clear headers: 1) Identification of an unresolved issue from the reading; 2) Experimental approach for addressing the issue, and 3) Interpretation of the 'expected' or 'predicted' outcome
10% Outlines of power-point slides (one for each presentation). This should be a roadmap for what you will show and say. It should be in the form of bullet points (one side of one page, can be single spaced).
10% There are 2, 2-3 page, papers due. These are short empirical write-ups of in class experiments.
20% 8-12 page paper. These are 8-12. These papers will be returned with an initial grade and comments. Students will revise their paper for a new grade; the final grade for the paper will be an average of the two grades (weighted toward the better grade so long as the student shows clear effort directed toward integrating the revisions and improving the paper).

Grading of Written Assignments

Written assignments are graded on both form and content. Form refers to adherence to the rules of grammar and APA style (30%). All writing assignments are to be double spaced, 1 inch margins, 10-12pt font. Assigned length excludes references, figures, and tables. Referencing and other formatting should follow APA standards (http://www.apastyle.org/). Content (70%) refers to the depth of discussion of previous research, the originality of connections that are drawn between previous research and the topic of the report, the description of any empirical data and methods, the validity of the conclusions that are drawn, and directions for future research that are indicated. To earn an A, on any assignment, a student must show originality and independence of thought and clarity of expression.

A or A-
Concise and well written; clear evidence of originality and independence of thought; follows presentation guidelines well; demonstrates clear understanding of methodology, data analysis
B+ B B-
Well written; some evidence of originality and independence of thought; adequate presentation; demonstrates some understanding of methodology, data analysis
C+ C C-
Adequate writing; no evidence of originality or independence of thought; presentation below expected level; little understanding of methodology, data analysis
D+ D D-
Poorly written; no evidence of originality or independence of thought; poorly presented; no evidence that methodology or data analysis is understood

Special Needs: Students with physical handicaps, learning disabilities or who speak English as a second language are encouraged to contact the instructor immediately in order to identify needed instructional support. Arrangements will be made as appropriate.

Academic Honesty: There is zero tolerance for academic dishonesty. Any evidence of copying, duplication or any evidence of plagiarism (copying someone else's writing, or failing to cite the work, ideas or writings of someone else, and presenting it as your own) will result in the filing of an Academic Honesty Incident Form. If you have questions on any issue related to academic honesty, please consult the University Policy and speak to an instructor.

Grading Scale

	87 < x < 90 = B+	77 < x < 80 = C+	67 < x < 70 = D+
93 < x ≤ 100 = A	83 < x ≤ 87 = B	73 < x ≤ 77 = C	63 < x ≤ 67 = D	< 60 = E
90 ≤ x ≤ 93 = A-	80 ≤ x ≤ 83 = B-	70 ≤ x ≤ 73 = C-	60 ≤ x ≤ 63 = D-

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