5 EC
Semester 1, period 1
5244NCTB5Y
The course Neuroscience: From Cell to Behaviour provides students with up-to-date insight into fundamental aspects of brain function in various organisms, predominantly rodents and humans, and with a focus on theory, experimental approaches, and interpretation and translatability of findings to the human situation.
In this course we will discuss molecular and cellular determinants of brain function and brain structure. Important topics include cellular activity and synaptic plasticity. We will then use this specific knowledge of neuroscience and learn more about cellular and systemic processes that underlie behaviour. Finally, we will discuss how environmental variables can influence behaviour and even induce disease states. We will also discuss the validity of animal models, the challenges of reproducibility and the importance of sharing negative results.
During the course, students will be introduced to a wide variety of experimental methods and techniques that are relevant for preclinical and/or clinical behavioural neuroscience. As preclinical research is still key to providing us with insight into molecular (mal)adaptations underlying (aberrant) behaviour, we will also discuss advantages and disadvantages of both clinical and preclinical research, the current “crisis” of translatability in preclinical research, and (personal) challenges that topic experts experienced.
Articles provided by guest lecturers (provided via Canvas)
Lectures provide fundamental knowledge and a deeper look into how knowledge about the neuroscientific study of behavior is constructed and experienced. Designing and performing a presentation for peers about a complex data article will test the student's insight and ability to communicate about research (quality).
| Activity | Hours |
| Lectures | 40 |
| Excursion | 4 |
| Written exam | 3 |
| Presentation | 14 |
| Self-study | 79 |
| Total | 140 (5 ECx28 hrs) |
Additional requirements for this course:
When a student cannot attend a practical or other activity due to illness, the course coordinator should always be informed as soon as possible. In all other scenarios, the student should request permission from the course coordinator to miss a practical or an other activity.
| Item and weight | Details |
|
Final grade | |
|
1 (100%) Tentamen |
A Day-test is a ‘closed-book exam’, i.e. no handwritten notes, books and electronic equipment are allowed. Phones and laptops/iPads in your bag.
The final exam is a ‘closed-book exam’, i.e. no handwritten notes, books and electronic equipment are allowed. Phones and laptops/iPads in your bag. When a 5.4 or lower is scored for the final exam, this wil result in a resit.
The 'Regulations governing fraud and plagiarism for UvA students' applies to this course. This will be monitored carefully. Upon suspicion of fraud or plagiarism the Examinations Board of the programme will be informed. For the 'Regulations governing fraud and plagiarism for UvA students' see: www.student.uva.nl
See Canvas for course structure and assignment details.
To prepare for the course, we recommend perusing (parts of) the following readings
Use of GenAI in MBCS
Within the Research Master Brain and Cognitive Sciences, you are generally allowed to use Generative AI (GenAI) to support your learning process. For example, you can use large language models (LLMs) to help your self-study by generating flashcards, or generating explanations of concepts. You do so at your own risk: an LLM may generate inaccurate or incomplete information for your studies. You are never allowed to use GenAI to generate work that you will hand in as an assignment, unless the assignment description explicitly allows you to do so.
Note: GenAI should be a support tool to help you reach the course's learning objectives, not a system to which you delegate activities that are meant to promote your learning. The course examiner has final say on which use cases are permissible or not within their course.
Never share personal information, research data, or course materials with a GenAI system, except for UvA AI Chat (https://aichat.uva.nl/). This UvA-hosted system was built with GDPR compliance and data security in mind. If you are in doubt about sharing information, don't share. You can always check with your course coordinator whether any intended use case is responsible.
Teachers are never allowed to use GenAI to grade your work. They may, however, use it to formulate their feedback.
Course-specific rules on GenAI use
Within this specific course, permissible GenAI use is limited to:
In order to provide students some insight how we use the feedback of student evaluations to enhance the quality of education, we decided to include the table below in all course guides.
| Neuroscience: From Cell to Behaviour (5EC) | 9 | |
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