Cognitive Neuroscience

Postgraduate course

Course description

Objectives and Content

The course will provide brain-level accounts and models of cognitive, perceptual, and affective processes. We will begin by presenting the primary methods by which we measure neural processes at metabolic, chemical, and electrical levels. This will be followed by a session on methods for noninvasively modulating brain function to map mental processes. After this, we will get to the main substance of the course covering neural formulations of memory, attention, cognitive control, and action. Near the end of the term, you will have the opportunity to see how everything comes together in the context of an integrative auditory neuroscience module. This module will start with the neuroscience of primary auditory processing and then proceed to a neural rendering of language and music followed by neural accounts of the affective and semantic components of these complex phenomena. Finally, we will examine the brain from the standpoint of clinical neuropsychology by asking what Parkinson¿s disease can tell us about neural organization and function.

Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of the course, students should have the following learning outcomes, defined in terms of knowledge, skills, and general competence.

Knowledge

The student can:

  • apply knowledge of neuroscientific methods (e.g., EEG/ERP, brain stimulation) in considering the merit of extant neuroscience research and in development of independent research projects
  • provide a detailed overview of theoretical models and neural substrates of memory, attention, cognitive control, perception, affect, and language
  • show the location and lateralization of the above functions
  • explain how brain injury and/or psychiatric illness can interfere with these functions

Skills

The student has:

  • the ability to independently plan, implement, and analyze informative neuroscientific experiments
  • the ability to clearly present the rationales, methods, results, and conclusions of empirical studies in the context of an academic presentation or article
  • the ability to critically analyze the scientific literature in cognitive neuroscience

General competence

The student can:

  • reflect on ethical aspects of human-brain research with regard to how subjects are treated, how experiments are conducted, and how articles are published

Full-time/Part-time

Full-time

Level of Study

Master's degree

Semester of Instruction

Autumn
Required Previous Knowledge
A module in biological psychology equivalent to Biological Psychology (5 credits) in PSYK114 (or PSYK101) in the University of Bergen¿s one-year programme in psychology.
Recommended Previous Knowledge
None
Credit Reduction due to Course Overlap
Not applicable
Access to the Course
Registration for the course requires admission to the masters degree programme in psychology. The course has a limited number of places, and students must apply for admission to the course/teaching.
Teaching and learning methods
Lectures, seminars, laboratory exercises and demonstrations.
Compulsory Assignments and Attendance
  • One project report related to laboratory exercises.
  • An assignment on a selected neurobiological topic.
  • In-class presentation of an assignment in a seminar.
  • The compulsory work requirements must be approved by the teacher before the student can take the exam.

    Forms of Assessment
    The assessment consists of a school exam. The exam lasts for 3 hours and is completed as an essay assignment.
    Grading Scale
    A-F
    Assessment Semester
    Autumn
    Reading List
    The bibliography will be ready before 01.07 for the autumn semester and before 01.12 for the spring semester.
    Course Evaluation
    The module will be evaluated in line with the Faculty of Psychology¿s procedures for participatory evaluation and the University of Bergen¿s quality assurance system. .
    Examination Support Material
    None
    Programme Committee
    Department of Biological and Medical Psychology
    Course Coordinator
    Department of Biological and Medical Psychology
    Course Administrator
    The Faculty of Psychology