Experimental Neurobiology

Owner	Master Brain and Cognitive Sciences
Coordinator	Carlos Fitzsimons
Part of	Master Brain and Cognitive Sciences, track Neuroscience, year 1

Course manual 2018/2019

Course content

During this course, students will get hands-on experience with various commonly used research methods in the field of neuroscience and learn to critically evaluate the (dis)advantages of each of these techniques for answering specific research questions.

 

Topics that will be addressed are:

• neuronal activity and neuronal communication;
• (comparative) brain anatomy;
• animal behaviour test;
• molecular techniques;
• immunohistochemistry;
• electrophysiology;
• microscopy;

 

Students will learn more about these topics by means of seminars given by specialists in the field, practical work (in the lab as well as behind the computer), lab tours, written assignments and presentations.

Study materials

Literature

• Recent review and research articles are the base of lectures and practicals. These are announced on Blackboard.

Syllabus

• The course syllabus, including instruction to perform the activities included in this course, is made available on Blackboard

Practical training material

• All the material necessary to perform the practical activities included in this course are provided by the course organization.

Software

• The software required to perform the practical "Neurons in action" is provided by the course organization.

Objectives

The main aim of this course is to gain insight into neuroscience research methods and their relevance for answering specific research questions relevant for the understanding of neuroscience, behaviour and cognition.

At the end of this course, students can

• explain how neuronal activity originates and how neurons communicate with each other, including basic their electrophysiological activity;
• recognize the major (sub)anatomical structures in the rodent and sheep brain and explain their main function(s), similarities and differences;
• execute basic experiments using several techniques commonly used in behavioural neuroscience using mice as animal model;
• execute basic experiments using several techniques commonly used in neuroanatomy and molecular neuroscience using mice as animal model;
• critically evaluate the (dis)advantages of state-of-the-art techniques for answering specific research questions in the field of basic and behavioural neuroscience.

Teaching methods

• Lecture
• Seminar
• Computer lab session/practical training
• Self-study
• Working independently on e.g. a project or thesis
• Supervision/feedback meeting

Introductory lectures, (computer) practicum, lab practicals and site visits (Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience)

Learning activities

Attendance

Requirements of the programme concerning attendance (OER-B):

1. In the case of practicals, the student must attend at least 80%. Should the student attend less than 80%, he/she must redo the practical, or the Examinations Board may have one or more supplementary assignments issued.
2. In the case of study-group sessions with assignments, the student must attend at least 80% of the study-group sessions. Should the student attend less than 80%, he/she must redo the study group, or the Examinations Board may have one or more supplementary assignments issued.
3. The student must attend 80% of the teaching per study unit of the mandatory courses, entry courses and specialisation courses.

Additional requirements for this course:

To pass this course, students need to comply with the requirements stated in the  OER B. Exceptions can only be granted by the Examinations Board.

Assessment

Item and weight	Details
Final grade
30% Exam	Must be ≥ 5.5, Allows retake
10% Neurons in action	Must be ≥ 5.5
50% Research proposal	Must be ≥ 5.5
Lab journal
10% Feedback research proposal

The requirements to pass the partial exam are as established by the OER B.

Inspection of assessed work

Contact your supervisor to make an appointment for inspection.

Assignments

During the course, your knowledge and skills will be graded in the following four ways. All are individual assignments and will be graded individually.

 

1. Assignment Neurons in action

 

For the first week a computer practical is planned in which you have to make assignments. These assignments will be graded. These assignments have to be handed in at the end of the last practical of the first week. It is not possible to redo these assignments at a later stage.

 

2. Lab journal

 

Experimental scientists don’t go anywhere near the lab without their lab journal. In this journal, they write down what they do at which times in the lab, so that they are always able to look back on how exactly data were obtained (see Box: Why keep a lab journal?). One of the skills you will need to develop in your future professional life is the self-discipline to maintain an accurate, clear record of your experiments, by maintaining your lab journal. You will practice this skill during the course. Hand in your journal to Carlos Fitzsimons at the start of the final written exam.  If the lab journal is not handed in you will not be able to pass this course and will receive a ‘requirements not met’ (n.a.v.).

3. Written exam

 

A large part of this course is concerned with practical assignments, lab tours, and the theory behind the experiments we discuss and perform. Your knowledge of neurophysiology, brain anatomy and a variety of research techniques learned and practiced during lectures as well as practicals in this course is therefore tested with a written exam.

4. Research proposal

 

If you decide to pursue a career as a researcher, strong experimental skills and a smart brain aren’t sufficient. You will need funding as well, and this is usually obtained by applying for external funding with a research proposal. For this reason, you will practice the skill of writing a clear, innovative and exciting research proposal. The research proposal is written and graded individually.

 

The format of an actual research proposal to apply for external funding depends very much on the funding agency and its objectives. A general research proposal form will be used in this course, which is provided via Canvas.

     5. Feedback on research proposal

 

Peer-review is at the core of scientific progress. Critically evaluating research techniques and their relevance for answering particular research questions is one of the goals of this course. Aside from writing your own research proposal, you will also evaluate a proposal from one of your fellow students (visit Canvas to see whose proposal you will provide feedback on).

Pass / fail and re-examination

 

All your grades need to be at least 5.5 (on a scale of 1-10) in order to pass this course. Also, the final average grade needs to be at least 5.5. Please remember that according to the rounding off system of the FNWI, marks from 4.75 (inclusive) to 5.50 (exclusive) are rounded off to 5.0 and those from 5.50 (inclusive) to 6.25 (exclusive) are rounded off to 6.0.

 

Since the lab journal is so closely related to the practical work, there is no re-examination possibility for these parts of your grade. The same holds for the feedback on a fellow student’s research proposal. In case of a re-examination for one or more of the other items composing your grade, the original grades for the lab journal and feedback will stand. Again, the total grade needs to be at least 5.5 in order to pass the course.

 

Re-examination date is announced via datanose.

 

Fraud and plagiarism

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

Course structure

Timetable

The schedule for this course is published on DataNose.

Last year's course evaluation

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.

Course Name (#EC)	N
Strengths	Notes for improvement
Response lecturer:

Contact information

Coordinator

• Carlos Fitzsimons