Fall 2010 Course Announcements

SLHS 8530 Speech

This is a graduate-level seminar in cognitive brain research offered in the Department of Speech-Language-Hearing Sciences in Fall, 2010. This seminar can benefit beginners as well as experienced researchers in the cognitive brain research field, suitable for graduate students in psychology, linguistics, education, speech-language- hearing sciences and related disciplines. Course contents will be tailored to the interests of the participants.No prior experience in brain research is required. More details and course syllabus are provided at the following web link: http://zhanglab.wikidot.com/seminar

 

PSY 8960: Proseminar in Cognition, Brain, and Behavior (#39445, 3 credits)
Mondays 12.00-2.30 pm - Elliott Hall N668
Yuhong Jiang and Wilma Koutstaal (Contact instructors for more info.)

This seminar course will introduce students to advanced topics in cognition, brain, and behavior. The course will combine lecture, discussion, and student-led presentations of research papers on core topics of attention, memory, emotion, categorization, thinking, and language, and intersections between these areas. The course readings and discussion will seek to extend our understanding of fundamental concepts of cognition, brain, and behavior while also pointing to the `edges´ of what we know, and important unanswered questions. The course is jointly taught with additional invited faculty lectures and participation in discussion.
Prerequisite: Psychology graduate student, or instructor consent.
Maximum enrollment: 12

 

SLHS 8630 Seminar. Traumatic Brain Injury: Connections, Cognition and Community (#57411, 3 credits)
09:45 A.M. - 12:45 P.M., Th (09/07/2010 - 12/15/2010),
ShevH 125, TCEASTBANK,
Mary R Kennedy

Each year, approximately 1.4 million civilians in the US sustain a traumatic brain injury (TBI) from blows to the head. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that 5.3 million citizens live with lasting effects of TBI but these numbers do not include the estimated 320,000 veterans with TBI from the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. Most survivors of TBI experience changes in cognitive, communication, physical, psychological and social functioning that impact their daily life. This graduate seminar is organized around three current topics in the science of TBI: 1) how functional (fMRI) and structural (diffusion MRI) connectivity is advancing our understanding of the neuropathology and neuroscience of TBI; 2) how current learning theory and instructional practice is advancing our understanding of the recovery and rehabilitation of common cognitive (e.g., memory, executive functions, self-awareness) and language/communication (e.g., discourse, social skills) abilities, and; 3) the impact of TBI on individuals' return to school, work, and community.

Graduate students in speech-language-hearing sciences, cognitive-, educational-, and neuro-psychology, child development, occupational therapy, and rehabilitation sciences are encouraged to enroll. Students will read and discuss recent peer- reviewed scientific papers each week and will have the opportunity to review the scientific research literature on a relevant topic within their discipline's theoretical or clinical research perspective.

The course is currently scheduled to meet Thursdays, 09:45 A.M. - 12:45 P.M. (09/07/2010 - 12/15/2010), ShevH 125, TCEASTBANK, 3 credits. This time may change however if there are other mutually agreeable times that all can agree upon. Email Mary Kennedy, Ph.D., Associate Professor, for more information: kenne047 at umn.edu.

 

CPSY 8360: Theoretical Foundations of Developmental Psychology
Instructor: Phil Zelazo zelazo@umn.edu
Class Time: M 2-4:30 pm, ChDev 172

In this seminar, we will explore issues in the philosophy of science as they bear on fundamental questions in developmental psychology. These issues can be organized into four broad categories:

• (1) Ontological questions: What kinds of things are there for developmental psychologists to study? (For example, are there different types of children-inhibited vs. uninhibited? What is the relation between the developing mind and the brain, or cognition and emotion?)
• (2) Epistemological questions: What does it mean to acquire knowledge in developmental psychology? What constitutes an explanation, and how (if at all) does this differ from a description? (For example, are all (adequate) explanations causal? Must they make reference to biology? To society?)
• (3) Genetic questions: What are the origins, history, and causes of the things developmental psychologists study? (For example, how shall we conceptualize the relation between genetic and environmental influences? What role do expectancies play, and is this another kind of causal influence on children's behavior?)
• (4) Sociological questions: What are the implications of viewing developmental psychology as a sociocultural practice? (For example, How have our ideas about children changed historically, and how are these changes related to broader cultural values and assumptions? How do our individual values influence our research, our findings, and our interpretations?)

For more information, please contact the instructor.

 

NSc 8217 "Systems and Computational Neuroscience" (2 cr.)
Instructor: Geoff Ghose geoff@cmrr.umn.edu

The course will be in journal club format, in which participants present and discuss recent original research papers. The topic this semester will be "Microcircuity Diversity."

In many behaviors, small networks of neurons play a critical role. The class will examine how constrained these networks are by behavior and development, and to what extent diversity in the connections between neurons or the integration properties of individual neurons affect network behavior. The course will examine canonical microcircuits from both invertebrates (e.g. pyloric stomatogastric) and vertebrates (e.g. cortical columns) and incorporate original research papers employing a variety of experimental paradigms including extracellular and intracellular recordings, functional imaging, and modeling.

All interested students, faculty members, and postdocs are encouraged to attend. The course typically attracts participants from a variety of departments and perspectives. Students enrolled in the course will be expected to lead the discussion of 2 papers each session. The course meets from 1:00-2:30 in Jackson 6-137 every Tuesday.

An initial organizational meeting will held on Tuesday, September 7. Those of you who attended the course previously do not need to attend this meeting. If you are interested in the course, but are unable to attend this meeting, please contact me.

The tentative reading list can be seen at: http://www.ghoselab.cmrr.umn.edu/Classes/8217/Microcircuits.html

Previous topics for the course (and the associated reading lists) can be seen at: http://www.ghoselab.cmrr.umn.edu/classes.html